The San Diego Home Blog

Kris and I were sitting around last night discussing her upcoming meeting with Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, one of the newer discount/rebate real estate models, this week. You should understand that Kris is much more “enlightened” than I with regard to the future direction of our industry. I guess I’m old-fashioned in my thinking that the sale or purchase of your home is a somewhat-to-extremely emotional and personal experience for many; one that inhibits ones ability to be objective. Kris, always trying to play the devil’s advocate, suggests that we are headed for a much more transparent model; that a greater and growing segment (Gen Y?) of our population are becoming so empowered by the internet that their reliance upon agents, in the traditional sense, will continue to diminish over time.

In particular, we were evaluating the Redfin model, one of encouraging the buyer to find their home of choice on their own, then contacting Redfin on-line to submit an offer (with, of course, a rebate to the buyer) and whether it will gain popularity. As I try to catch up to Kris’ vision of the future, I start to think more globally. This is important as we are incubated in San Diego, a market that has, until recently, had a phenomenal run up in home prices for many years, as have other markets on the west coast, such as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.

So it may not be a coincidence that Redfin launched their low price/rebate, buy-your-home-online model in Seattle and are now in the process of expanding into California. I acknowledge that there will always be a market for the “for sale by owner” or “listing agent buyer” mentality. A certain segment of buyers and/or sellers are always looking for “a deal” and some may be legitimately capable of representing themselves. The National Association of Realtors has, in their 2006 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, pegged this segment at about 12% of total annual home sales nationally.

But what about other markets across the nation? Think about Dallas or St. Louis or Pittsburgh or Wichita or Topeka or Oklahoma City or Memphis or the hundreds of other markets where the average annual home value appreciation may be measured in the low single digits for decades. An old friend of mine recently sold his home in a mddile income suburb of St. Louis that he had lived in for 15 years for $115,000. When we were discussing his agent selection I asked what the commissions were back there and his answer was that he was lucky to only have to pay 6% (not 7%). When I asked him if there were any “discount brokerage” alternatives, he wasn’t sure what I was talking about. For Redfin, their take for providing a buyer for my old buddy’s home would have been $1,000. Peanuts! In San Diego, their average take would be $5,000 per home sale. They don’t appear, at least at the moment, to want to waste their time in St. Louis.

So, why isn’t Redfin where people may need them the most?? The answer is, in my opinion, that they have made the conscious decision to exploit the markets that have had recent and significant price appreciation, hoping for a backlash of sorts from buyers and sellers who believe that commissions are built into and, therefore increasing the sales price (that debate is hereby tabled to another post). Now I’m not suggesting that there isn’t a cost of a purchase or sale. Of course there is. But what concerns me is that Redfin and other similar competitiors are trying to take advantage of selected markets. What’s wrong with that? I guess nothing if you enjoy a one-night stand. Ahhh, free enterprise!

See, I guess the difference in my thinking is that while we in SoCal have enjoyed this great run up of home prices, nothing lasts forever. As we have seen over the past year, all good things come to an end. Interestingly, about the same time it became more difficult to sell a home here, I started noticing, at least in my neck of the woods, that the earlier discount models that popped up so quickly over the past few years, such as Help U Sell, Assist 2 Sell, I Pay One, etc., are now seemingly almost absent from the markets I focus on. Are they becoming irrelevant? Not quite. But a key question is; When the markets starts to get a little dicey, are buyers and sellers maybe a little more concerned about the level and quality of service they expect and receive (i.e., Value)?

So what ”value” will Redfin bring to the table? Or are they just trying to exploit markets they know find many homes with a significant amount of equity?

Coincidentally, Kris and I took a listing earlier this week. It will be the fifth time we will have had the honor of representing this particular client. Last year, almost 40% of our transactions were with repeat or referral clients. Most established and successful agents attribute their success to the many years they have spent building a loyal client base through hard work and consistently exceptional results.These results are not quantified in the context of discounts or rebates, but in ”value”. I will be interested to know what the Redfin client retention rate is or will be. Nothing personal…   

See our related post at the Bloodhound Blog.

I am going to take a position that is going to be unpopular with a lot of agents out there.

Doug Quance at the Bloodhound Blog wrote an excellent piece on referral fees in the real estate industry and proposes that it is time to do away with the practice. I am going to join Doug out on his “limb” and agree whole-heartedly that the practice of paying compensation to another for the introduction to a potential client is not usually in the best interest of that client. Further, rarely if ever in my experience is this fee disclosed to the principal in the transaction. Therefore, the practice in many cases strikes me as being more than just a little sleezy.

As Doug points out, referral fees can be paid out to relocation companies, on-line lead generation sources, and other agents. Keeping in mind that I have both received and paid referral fees, it is not a practice of which I generally approve. There are agents who have business models built almost entirely on the practice (or aspire to the same), and I do not find the role of the interloper a noble one.

Disclosure, or lack thereof, simply offends my sensibilities. This is my biggest issue. Let’s take the company referral. The company gives the agent the name of the home buyer or seller which has been generated either through their company website or through their relocation department. I will use some typical numbers to illustrate what will happen. Let’s assume that the agent is on a 75% split with the Broker (25% of every commission check goes to the company). If the client is a referral client, the agent will agree to pay anywhere from 25 to 30% off the top for the privilege of being handed the lead. After that, the agent will agree to a reduced split of 50 or 60%. I’ll let you check my math, but the result is that on a $500,000 purchase or sale, the agent stands to “pay” approximately $5,000 dollars for this client.

The first unwritten rule in accepting the referral is that you never discuss the financial arrangements of this referral with the client. Now, in the case of many relocation company arrangements, the referral fee is obviously in place to offset the costs to the employer of paying the employee’s moving or selling expenses. If my real estate agent’s fee is covered by my company, this whole argument is really of no interest to me. But, fully-comped employer moves are becoming more of a rarity. For all of the other referred consumers, do you think that they might like to know that there was a $5,000 price tag on their head? Do you think that, armed with this knowledge, they might see a benefit to cutting out the referring middle man? You betcha.

Next is the agent to agent referral. This is carpet bagging at its worst and can even take the form of outright theft. Years ago, I received a “come list me” call from a homeowner in my area. At the meeting, they explained that they were relocating to Texas. They knew me through my marketing and reputation, their friends had highly recommended me, and they “always knew” that when they sold their home, they would call me. Prior to making the call, however, they had made an advance trip to Texas to look at homes. They explained to the Texas agent they found that they knew they would be calling me to sell their San Diego home when they returned, at which point he convinced them that he would facilitate the process (”get the ball rolling”) by making the referral on their behalf. And refer he did. When their home closed escrow, I received 50% less than I would have absent the Texas agent’s helpful facilitation, and that agent and my company took the balance. I couldn’t (wouldn’t) tell my clients this, yet it was their money that had been stolen. Sleezy, underhanded, and absolutely legal. The agent worked the system to his advantage and got the goods.

So, should we do away with referral fees altogether as Doug suggests? It will never happen. The answer is transparency, which will in turn allow the client to decide. It is, afterall, their money. The last time Steve and I referred a client to an out of area agent, we disclosed the referral fee to our client and credited them a portion in escrow. All above board, all discussed like big boys and girls, and to everyones benefit. More recently, I met with buyers relocating from out of state. Knowing they were a military family and knowing that USAA has a buyer rebate referral program, I made a preemptive strike. I acknowledged it and agreed to match the concession to avoid the whole referral system mess. We both win.

How we achieve the needed transparency is the question. Knowing that the agents either won’t disclose the extent to which your business is being bartered or that they reside in a company culture that discourages disclosure, I see much of the responsibility for change falling squarely in the laps of the consumers. It is unfortunate, but it is. Any time you as a home buyer or seller find yourself in a situation where a third party has a role, demand to know the specifics. You may not know it, but you could be leaving your money on the table for someone to steal.

I apologize in advance for digressing off-topic this morning. It is just that I am up to my eyeballs in spam. Spam for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Spam as a midnight snack. I predict that the downfall of our society and perhaps our species will not be due to global warming, nuclear war, or even the next Kevin Federline album. Instead, some future civilization will unearth the ruins of my inbox and my own remains, index finger frozen in time on the “delete” key. Only then will they know with certainty the catalyst of our demise.

I’m all for free enterprise, but the deluge of unsolicited, unwanted garbage coming my way is wearing on me and affecting my productivity. I suspect I am not alone. I am being slapped cyber-silly through email and now, at a frighteningly increasing pace, through our blog.

I do NOT want cheap prescription drugs, Viagra, a young Russian bride or a new mortgage. I am not stupid enough to follow your link to reactivate my PayPal account, respond to the query from no_reply_we_think_you_are_a_moron@WellsFargo.com to verify my personal information, confirm the “recent purchase” of a flat screen television which will be “charged to my credit card shortly”, or get the lyrics (”for free!”) to Daniel Powder’s “Bad Day”. I am writing my own words to that one as we speak. If I want to know about your new listing, I will find it through my MLS, and if I want to know how to “take my business to the next level” or if I need a website redesign, I will call you.

How does this affect productivity? Well, there is the obvious time spent wading through the email inbox to find the one legitimate pearl among my thousands of daily oysters (I don’t like oysters). Sure, I have a spam catcher, but it doesn’t catch it all. And sometimes, it catches the good stuff. Which brings me to the second productivity-crippling issue. I spent too much time resending three emails containing a counter offer to an agent yesterday and another half hour on the phone with her as we tried to “find” it, which we finally did - In her spam folder. In the time it took us to harness the power of technology, I could have carried it to her on crutches. Then there is the necessary, periodic visit I must make to the depths of my own spam folder to “find” my incoming, misdirected mail. I often wonder how many lost opportunities have landed in my spam graveyard. “Come list my house in five minutes or else”.

Spammers are now preying on the blogs. In my case, I have what I used to consider a very workable system and a very respectable spam catcher. Until last week, it would search and destroy about 100 “comments” a day, most suggesting that we visit their website to watch someone doing something with someone they shouldn’t be, if you know what I mean. Other comments from first-time visitors would be held in moderation pending my green light. This past week, the volume of crap has logarithmically skyrocketed, however. I guess I have hit the big time. In the past ten hours, while my spam killer has intercepted 1,275 evil messages, it has missed another 86 which are now awaiting my moderation. And I will never know if one of the 1,275 was not evil at all.

And back to lost productivity. I do most of my blogging on my laptop through a wireless broadband connection. Since this doesn’t give my computer a unique IP address, some bottom dwelling spammer has ruined it for all of us. I am no longer able to post comments on many blogs; Marlow and Phoenix Real Estate Guy, I’m talking to you. I suspect I am losing some comments at my end along the way as well.

I will be looking into implementing the “type the squiggly numbers and letters in the box” method of approving comments. In the meantime, and for the sake of all that is good and decent, for the sake of the human race, take your business elsewhere. Pick on someone stupid and gullible enough to actually appreciate your smorgasbord of junk food. May I recommend KevinFederline.com?

Another in our continuing series of Better Know a Neighborhood, today we are taking a look at the San Diego neighborhood of San Lucena. Nestled in the beautiful community of Scripps Ranch, San Lucena was originally built by Kauffman and Broad (KB Homes) in the mid- to late-1990’s. San Lucena and its “sister” development of La Merida are located in what is popularly referred to as Scripps Ranch Villages, and is one of the few, newer developments in Scripps Ranch to not  be subject to the Mello Roos assessment (although there does exist an active Homeowners Association with modest, associated monthly fees).

Three floor plans are offered ranging in size from just over 2500 to more than 3400 square feet. All plans are two stories and the designs have a strong Mediterranean influence. Set amidst a backdrop of rolling hills, many offer canyon or open space views.  All homes offer 3-car garages, although the Plan 1 has the third space in tandem.

The Plan 1, “Saldana”, is unique with its turret facade, and can be configured with 3 bedrooms and a loft or 4 bedrooms. The Plan 2 “Moratalla” can, depending on the particular home, offer three, four or five bedrooms, plus a bonus room. Many owners opted to convert the third-car garage to an additional room as well. The “Santa Marta”, Plan 3, is the largest and can be more than 3400 square feet in size depending on the owner’s interior customization.  With first-floor vaulted ceilings, it is not uncommon to find that sellers have added additional living space as an “upstairs” loft.

San Lucena is within the boundaries of the San Diego Unified School District. As of this writing, children attend Ellen Browning Scripps Elementary School, Thurgood Marshall Middle School and Scripps Ranch High School. As always, we caution those interested in schools to confirm this information with the school district, as boundaries are subject to change (and often do change).

A range of amenities are located nearby including the Scripps Ranch Community Park, which is the home of the annual Scripps Ranch Community Fair and, on this night, the Concert in the Park. The Community Recreation Center serves as an intramural venue for adults and children alike. Adjacent baseball and soccer fields, and a large playground with picnic and restroom facilities are active most any day of the week.

This past year, home sale prices in San Lucena have ranged from $800,000 to $1,037,500 and have averaged $311/square foot and 63 days on the market (according to the Sandicor MLS).

A picture is worth, well, a bunch of words, so we are trying something new today by providing a link to a short slide show. Any feedback is always welcome.

Woe is me! I am battling my second bout of the Martian Death Flu this season, no doubt thanks to my daughters, or as I like to call them, my little Petri dishes.

My youngest lab culture experiment, the girl who we also call our American Idiom, recently logged another memorable butchering of the language. When her older sister was discussing the Netherlands (we won’t even ask why she was discussing the Netherlands), Emily asked if that is where Peter Pan lived. Forgetting for a moment that her English teacher, her Geography teacher and her mother should all be formally charged for this unfortunate case of mistaken identity, she is 14 years old and should know better.

If I had been present during the discussion, I would have dutifully pointed out that the Netherlands is a European country known for its windmills and tulips, while Neverland is where Peter Pan lived  - and where many sellers in today’s market reside. Regardless of the market data and trends, and turning a deaf ear to the loud and clear message that buyers in this market continue to broadcast, so many of the pricing strategies and expectations I am seeing are the stuff of fantasy.

We referenced an excellent article on the value of Value Range Pricing awhile back by Broker Bryant at Active Rain. This piece is perhaps the best description I have ever encountered of how the value range can and should work. In value pricing, the seller lists not a single “offered at” price for their home but a range within which they are willing to negotiate. Done properly, the range defines a starting point and, within the range, negotiations take place until a price is agreed upon by all parties. Range pricing obligates sellers to “respond” to any offer in the range; that response can be an acceptance or a counter offer, but never an outright rejection. Historically, agents have described the value range in this way: Sellers see the top, buyers see the bottom and agents see the middle. The lower, bottom price provides the seller with the opportunity to greater exposure (as more people will find this home within their range of affordability), while the higher number allows them the latitude to negotiate their best price (and sleep nights knowing that they didn’t leave money on the table).

So how is it that when having submitted an offer at the bottom of a value range recently on behalf of my clients, the seller told us to take a hike? Neverland. Here are the numbers for this home:

Current price: $750,000 - $825,000
Estimate Square Footage: 2318 sf
BR/BA: 3BR Plus Loft/2.5BA
Original List Date: March, 2006
Original List Price: $850,000 - $950,000
Year Built: 2003
Original Sale Price: $600,000

Our offer at $750,000 was met with a message from the agent that the seller would only counter at $825,000 and that they were not willing to “come off the top end”. It turns out, according to the agent, that they have “time” and the comps (from two years ago) support their position. Neverland.

I see two issues here. One is the obvious misuse of a valid pricing strategy in a deceptive way. If you have no intention of selling at any price other than the top-of-the-range price, don’t use a value range pricing structure. You are wasting the buyer’s time, and you are wasting your own time. Second is disregard of the simple truths of value which Phil Hoover of the Boise Blog posted some time ago, and which I will offer again as a much-needed refresher course:

The simple truths of real estate value are:

• Your home isn’t worth what you need to get.
• Your home isn’t worth what you want to get.
• Your home isn’t worth what you owe on it.
• Your home isn’t worth what your neighbor says it’s worth.
• Your home IS worth what a buyer will pay for it.
• If no one will part with their money to buy your home, the value is undetermined and you will still own it!

If the market was a rising one, you as the seller could conceivably hold your breath until you turn blue and eventually, the market might find your price. In a declining (or, as the National Association of Realtors likes to call it, “stabilizing”) environment, however, you could find yourself in Neverland - without a sale. Or, you could in fact be in the Netherlands, tilting at windmills.

Scripps Ranch residents are generally in agreement that it is time to open the gates at Miramar Lake. What was once a five-mile loop around this tremendous community amenity is now a dead-end trail at the four-mile mark.

Recently, my daughter Rebecca wrote an op-ed piece for her school newspaper. I found it worthy of reposting here.

 By Becky Berg

It is a quiet evening somewhere in the mountains that form the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yet deep in a cave in this obscure and forbidding region, the whispers of al-Qaeda operatives pierce the night. Stealthily, they plan their next attack on the world, hoping to pick a target that will shock the entire globe. Names of locations are tossed about, places that include military bases, well-known buildings, and significant landmarks. Suddenly, a perfect suggestion is made. The terrorists laugh with glee as they imagine nations across the globe being sent into chaos after the attack. The chosen target is Miramar Lake.

To most people, this scenario appears absurd, and for obvious reasons. After all, why would al-Qaeda, the terrorist group responsible for the largest foreign attack ever made on United States soil, wish to devote men and resources to such a minor target? Following September 11, 2001, however, the State Department of Health Services thought otherwise, and ordered that a chain link fence be installed on both ends of the dam at Miramar Lake so as to prevent against anyone poisoning the drinking water in the reservoir. The barrier has been in place ever since.

Interestingly enough, according to a report filed by KUSI News, legislation was recently passed that allowed the fences to be removed—with a few conditions, of course. According to the report, a number of safety measures would have to be put in place, such as an 8-foot wall along the interior of the lake, as well as security cameras. Oh, and new trashcans and a port-o-potty, while the city’s at it. Apparently, though, the city won’t be “at it” for some time; the project would cost an estimated $400,000, money that the Park Department and the general fund just can’t afford to spend.

It’s easy to poke fun at the fact that, currently, a single chain link fence stands between the terrorists and our drinking water, or that the “solution” involves another wall and a bonus toilet. The real problem, however, is that this was even considered to be a problem in the first place.

Granted, Miramar Lake is a major reservoir that happens to be situated near a Marine base. If the dam were to be destroyed, all land below 420ft. and within two miles west of the lake would be considered unsafe; if the water were to be significantly poisoned, it is unclear to what degree actual drinking water would be affected in spite of the purification process. Even so, common sense must at some point come into play. Just as it would be unrealistic to claim that Scripps Ranch High School should be on 24-hour alert in case of an air strike, so is it irrational to consider Miramar Lake as a site potentially endangered by terrorist activities. Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations would never consider a target that lacks any significance whatsoever on a global scale; it doesn’t take a national security expert to know that. And in the event that al-Qaeda did become bored one weekend afternoon and wished to wreak havoc on the Scripps Ranch community, no puny fence would hold them back. The only people that the fence has protected against are joggers, bikers, and other people seeking recreation, and those are exactly the people that should be able to enjoy the road around the lake—all five miles of it.

For years, Councilmember Brian Maienschein has attempted to have the fence removed, and Mayor Jerry Sanders supports the initiative. Yet, as is evident in the legislation requiring the removal of the fence to become a $400,000 project, our government officials are fighting the wrong battles. It’s time that the State Department of Health Services and the Department of Homeland Security were convinced of the absolute lack of a terrorist threat to Miramar Lake, or at least exposed as the spineless bureaucrats searching for a quick-fix that they really are. If the Department of Homeland Security wants to make it look like the federal government is doing something productive to fight terrorism, they can find bin Laden. “Saving” Scripps Ranch residents by closing off Lake Miramar accomplishes nothing.

Real estate search engines are multiplying like bunnies. So, in the mega-mall of homes for sale, where is the best place to shop? Like any store, no one offers every product at any given moment, so it is important to know who their suppliers are and how often they are restocking their inventory.

The idea of posting this little “home store” shopping review occurred to me recently when a client gave Steve a list of properties to “check out” in a typical moment of “you can’t possibly be showing me everything” frustration. In this particular case, the list of properties came from a local real estate company (or agent, I’m not sure which) website, and all were off-market. If, as a consumer, you prefer to fill your shopping cart online, whether it be for the purpose of annonymity, as a matter of control, or as a checks-and-balances approach if you suspect your agent is missing something, following is a short summary of your options.

The MLS

The local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to which your agent presumably (but not necessarily subscribes) is obviously the most comprehensive source of listing data. Only an agent who is a member of the local Board of Realtors (keeping in mind that we are speaking of San Diego County here) has direct access to this data base. Of course, not every home for sale in the geographic universe will appear here. The listings of agents with exclusive arrangements with the seller (no agreement to pay compensation to the cooperating broker in the transaction) will not be represented in the MLS, and the For Sale By Owner listings will obviously be absent. In this more difficult selling market, however, you can expect the number of these “secret” listings to be very small.

If you have a relationship with an agent, you do not need to rely on your agent to call you each time something new happens in your market. In San Diego, your agent can set you up with your own web page brought to you directly from within the online MLS database which is repopulated with listing data, including price and status changes, as new entries are made. While this tool is helpful, nothing in my opinion is as valuable and “real time” as an agressive and attentive agent searching on your behalf. For instance, when working with a buyer waiting for X, we will be checking the MLS Hotsheet (summary of listing changes) many, many times daily. And, of course, your agent should have a broad network and the ability to hear of new listings before they are ever entered into the MLS.

For our illustration of the differences of the following resources, I did a quick search this morning (Thursday) of detached homes in the 92131 zip code. This morning, the Sandicor MLS shows 82 active single-family detached homes for sale, and I thought it would be an interesting way to see just how some of the other, more popular, search options compare.

COMPANY WEB SITES

Our Sandicor MLS allows dissemination of their database in accordance with the Internet Data Exchange (IDX) agreement which, in effect, allows member Brokers to agree to allow their listing information to be displayed on other Broker’s web sites. Sandicor’s IDX Rules can be found here. Although Sandicor provides an IDX product which Brokers and agents can subscribe to for use on their sites, most site search features are provided through third-party vendors. Therefore, the presentations and relevance you see on different web sites will vary. The rules state that the displayed listings must be refreshed a at least once a week. This is important to recognize, since some search features will be updated daily while others every several or more days. In other words, the home you are looking at online today could have in theory sold a week ago.

The rules state that individual Brokers may opt out of the program, but I do not see any evidence that opting out has occurred to any significant extent. Following are some cases in point.

• Prudential California Realty: The IDX search feature on their site returned 81 active listings versus the 82 shown in the MLS. Not bad, considering there is an obvious margin of error here. (I can’t achieve all of my searches simultaneously).
• McMillin Realty: My 92131 search returned 106 records here. The difference is that “under contract” listings by all Brokers are displayed as well. I am not sure how they are able to do this, since the Sandicor IDX rules specifically state that only active listings from other Brokers may be displayed. Hmmm.
• Coldwell Banker: This site showed 87 listings in 92131 this morning. Here, in addition to active listings, homes in escrow are shown, but only pending homes represented by this Broker (no violation, at least).

INDEPENDENT SEARCH SITES

To say that these are abundant is an understatement. I will speak to just a handful of the more popular, or at least, well-known sites.

• Realtor.com: This is the old granddaddy of consumer home search sites. Their database is populated through feeds from the various MLS’s. San Diego’s Sandicor participates, but not all local or regional MLS’s do. The problem I have found with Realtor.com is that their data is not always refreshed daily. I used to accuse them of taking weekends off, which they in fact may. As a member of Sandicor, all of my listings are automatically “swept” to the site. However, as a subscriber to their enhanced listing feature, I must wait for my new listings to appear before I can log on to the system and add enhanced text, photos and visual tour links. Sometimes I find that my listings are showing within hours, yet I have often had to wait several days to see them represented on the site. This morning, Realtor.com showed 89 active listings versus the 82 actual MLS listings, the difference likely being a result of this delay in processing.
• Trulia: Their site is populated through direct input from agents and brokers. The advantage to this type of format is of course that For Sale By Owner and exclusive (non-cooperative) listings can be included; the disadvantage is that such a site will fall far short of providing a complete inventory. Another important thing to keep in mind is that individual input can and will result in duplicate listings, and therefore you may find yourself seeing double. For instance, Prudential feeds all company listings to Trulia automatically. As an agent, I also am feeding my listings to Trulia. This morning, their total 92131 detached home tally was 49.
• Yahoo!: 82 out of 82 homes this morning were represented when I checked. Yahoo! Realty Times posted a very good interview with Yahoo! Real Estate’s Ryan Roslansky which talks about the site. While agents and brokers may pay to include listings in Yahoo!’s classified forum for subsequent aggregation to the site, our San Diego MLS provides all listings to the site. It appears that duplication of listing information is not an issue for our region at this time.
• Google: Google Base   allows Brokers, agents, MLS’s and IDX vendors to partner with their site by supplying listing data. Last March, Dustin at Rain City Guide wrote:My impression of Google’s latest features is that the data is VERY incomplete and the interface is ugly“. I couldn’t agree more. So far, Google Base is extremely underpopulated with data and navigating the site is laborious at best. It took me a good ten minutes to even find one of my listings posted there. However, Dustin’s article was primarily intended to draw attention to the inadequacies of Zillow, which at that time did not offer listing search capability. Fast forward to today…
• Zillow: They recently rolled out their new homes for sale search functionality to much hoopla. Greg Swann recently had to ask, Where’s the beef?, noting that Trulia has over one-million listings populating their site. Now, this morning, Zillow had only 23 listings in my sample zip code, yet in the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that 4 of these were actually my listings which are pending. You see, listing information here is manually entered and remains “live” until it is either manually deleted or it expires. For agents putting multiple listings on tens of sites, it is inevitable that homes in contract will be left on these sites until expiration. Listing capability is not restricted to agents and Brokers, of course, which is one potential plus, so non-MLS properties will appear here. Although we are in the early days of Zillow as a homes-for-sale search tool, the new functionality has been somewhat underwhelming so far.
• Craigslist, Backpage, etc, etc. These are but two of the many, smaller fish in the real estate search engine pond. The shear number of these sites with their varying posting procedures and “sunset clauses” is enough to make any agent committed to complete, online listing exposure pull their hair out. Listings on Craigslist expire every seven days; Backpage adds must be refreshed every 45 days to remain active, but may be reposted every seven days to stay “at the top of the list”. Multiply that by a dozen or more listings, and it’s enough to make a girl’s Outlook scheduling calendar explode.

 AGENT WEB SITES

Finally, there is the agent web site, but beware: Not all sites are created even “sorta” equal. The look, feel and content of agent sites run the gamut. Any agent worth their salt, however, will offer both a “Search for Homes” option offered through an IDX arrangement and enhanced information on their own listings including photos, visual tours, maps and more to put these homes in the spotlight (the latter being what your seller clients are paying you for). Many, my own site included, allow users to sign up for automatic email notifications of updated listing information for homes meeting their search parameters. Usually these features require that the user “sign up” for the feature, but in my case I assure you that searches are performed annonymously and no one is lurking or plotting to contact you unless you specifically request to be contacted. My particular IDX program comes complete with “campaigns” that, unless disabled, automatically enroll users in a drip program consisting of “helpful” homebuying and selling ideas (spam)- I have disabled these. The one auto-generated message I can not seem to eliminate is the first “welcome member” email that is automatically sent, purportedly from me, but I will eventually find a way to slay this beast. My advice to consumers is that if you find yourself on a hit-list after having subscribed to one of these email tools, take the agent out back and beat him mercilessly or, at the very least, unsubscribe. You are undoubtedly online in part due to the anonymity you enjoy, and that should be respected. (Disregard my first “welcome” email, of course. It’s not coming from me, and it’s not my fault). Oh, and the listing count for 92131 on my site this morning? 82, which means I am batting a thousand.

There are many, more geek-inclined people in the industry who are much more qualified to address the functionality of some of these sites, and I hope you will chime in.