Weekend in Rearview | Shout-Out Mania
For some of you yesterday was more like a Monday (shout-out to my former state co-workers at the University of Massachusetts and my students and advisees who are graduating this weekend!!) Save me a beer and we’ll talk about building wealth through real estate 
Anyway, we had another incredibly busy weekend but I couldn’t be happier about it!
I did find time to play catch up with my feed reader and there’s an interesting discussion brewing in response to a post about a discrepancy on Trulia (shout-out to Agent Genius blogger Ines Hegedus-Garcia). I’m a big fan of Trulia, Zillow, ANYTHING Google, etc and use them all the time. In fact, last week a member of my team (shout-out to Beth Lucht, greatest buyer agent in Massachusetts) executed a Purchase and Sale for a property she found and negotiated for a buyer through Zillow’s “Make Me Move” feature. Now that’s good stuff!!! But I definitely feel there are many downsides to the way listing information flows and my greatest concern is the negative impact it has on consumer confidence/confusion. Our property search is really good in my humble opinion, but we’re not immune to questions and confusion. The data feed comes directly from the Massachusettes Multiple Listing Service as most do. If there is missing info or a discrepancy in the information displayed, 99% of the time it’s an error on the part of the listing agent (or whoever did the initial data entry). I’m not pointing fingers here at all, we all make typos, or get our paperwork mixed up sometimes. But it does put me and my business in a difficult position when a total stranger finds us through a Google search and asks why the listing they are interested in has no description or photos and a different price on craigslist. I want to earn their trust so do I tell them what I’m honestly thinking (that the listing agent was too lazy and ignorant to bother)? That’s probably not the most professional approach…
This whole MLS thing is a long rant for another day but speaking of ignorant and lazy, I can’t believe the amount of emails I’ve received and continue to receive in response to my rant about my stolen content. Thank you so much! Shout-out to everyone from all over the country for your insight and perspective. There are apparently more true and honest professionals out there than I had originally thought and the new support system I’ve found has brought much goodness to an otherwise bad situation. Particular shout-out goes to my new friend and idol, Lenn Harley. Lenn is a pioneer of internet marketing and has been fighting and winning claims against copyright violators for many years. (If you’re looking for property in the Maryland and Virginia areas, check her out at homefinders.com.) She pointed me in the right direction and after speaking with several different copyright and IP lawyers, it’s clear I was right, the folks involved are indeed guilty. Since I’m such a nice guy, I emailed them, informed them of the violations and suggested I wouldn’t be so nice if they were to do it again. I also asked again for an apology. The reponse? I got two words from them but they weren’t “I’m sorry”, not even close!!! So I am all lawyered up and will be keeping quiet on the topic out here while we see how it goes.
Looking forward, I’ve got a very exciting announcement that I’m hoping to make later in the week so keep your eyes out for that. And if you haven’t checked out the featured listing at 18 Carlton St in Somerville, MA you are missing one of the coolest lofts I’ve seen in awhile!
Hi, I'm Jake...and that's my dog. By day I'm Executive Director of Business Development at Barrett & Company Real Estate. By night I am part geek, struggling musician and frustrated writer. I started this blog mainly to learn WordPress, work on my design and writing skills, and showcase some folks with all kinds of talents and great stuff to say. (Read the long version if you dare) and please introduce yourself over on my Google+ Profile!
Aww, thanks, Jake, I’m blushing. Seriously, it is a terrific story. My buyer clients want to live in a small city outside of Boston. The inventory of listings there has been sparse and the new ones that were priced right have been going fast! So we’ve been looking outside of the MLS box to find houses that not every buyer would know about. I contacted the owner with the e-mail feature on zillow.com and found out they were considering listing the house in a few weeks. I made an appointment with my buyers to see the house, they loved it, we put in an offer and have been through home inspection already. The benefit to working with an agent who makes it their priority to find every buyer the best house for the money.