See the first Jim Abbott video here.

Syndication websites are websites like Trulia.com, Zillow.com and Realtor.com. These sites have one purpose: TO MAKE MONEY.

There syndication real estate websites appear as if they provide accurate data to the public regarding real estate. They appear as if they ARE the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). They appear to be the unbiased source for real estate information. The local real estate expertise. But they are not. These sites are around to make money.

Unfortunately these sites have gathered enough traction in our information thirsty age that they are thriving. They are very popular and higher ranking sites in the eyes of Google.

Information to the public is great. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about providing accurate information. The problem with these sites is they don’t provide accurate information. Because these syndication sites don’t get instant updates for the “real” MLS’s, the data could be absolute, misleading and more importantly, inaccurate.

To give you some examples of what I mean:

When I go to these sites it takes me less than a minute to find something inaccurate with the data. It might be a home that’s for sale that sold 6 months ago. There might be a home for sale that was withdrawn from the MLS over  a year ago – but it still appears to be for sale. Prices are inaccurate, thus this makes all their stats inaccurate as well.  This inaccurate information does nothing for buyers or sellers.

Back to money $$$$.  Take a look at these sites, 1/3 to 1/2 of the webpage is dedicated to advertisements. Primarily these ads are: Click here to: “contact the local real estate expert.”  Now these might be experts or they might not.  One thing’s for sure, these real estate agents decided to pay for these ad placement. Literally, thousands of dollars are spent by agents every year to have their face appear on these websites.

I like the concept of these sites. They a pretty cool website offering some rather slick ways to value and view real estate. But the information they provide is only as reliable as the information they put in – and that information is not always accurate.

Regards,

Charlie Dresen