What do you think of Zillows program found here (bottom left of page):

http://www.zillow.com/postings/Postings.htm

Post properties even though you aren't the listing agent. What do you listing agents think of that?

I think that this is illegal. Since a home-owner would sign an exclusive right to market agreement, no other agency can market the property under their name.

This is not only a violation of Code of Ethics, it could land someone in court!

Our listing agreement provides for the sellers authorizations of:"... the property shall be submitted to one or more property information exchanges, seller authorizes the use of electronic and all other marketing methods."
With that statement I believe, any other agent can advertise the property. The MLS input sheet also has similar boxes to check for "ALL" electronic marketing methods, ie. Realtor.com, other companies websites, IDX etc.

I'll disagree with Pikes. I too think it's a violation. Be interesting to hear others perspectives...

i saw a loser do this on Craigslist. He listed 100 homes for sale with him as the contact. He has zero listings. I understand IDX and broker reprocity. This is not that. He should lose his license...or get out of the field.

The seller wants the property sold and his agent is getting help
in marketing the property.

Does not seem like that much of a crime to me.

Pikes, While your listing agreement may say that, I'm sure that it does not mean that I can go into Zillow and hijack your listings and the leads that come in from Zillow as a result.

While I agree that the owner is giving you permission to market the property in "all" electronic manners, I'm sure that means that YOU can market them to those electronic methods.

This is the best marketing gimmick ever conceived in the history of the industry. Zillow won't get in trouble because they are not a real estate company. They are a social networking site which creates discussion topics related to real estate. The feature says anybody can "tell" about a house for sale. It does not say list a house for sale. Tell, talk, discuss, not same as list. That means anybody can post a street address and start a discussion, make comments, contact the poster, etc..etc..

Zillow is not the party making the postings so they won't be getting in trouble. The "agent" that chooses to post is merely expressing his opinion on the property.

Conceivably, as more homes get posted on zillow, there could be millions of discussions related to past sales, current sales, pending sales, listed properties of a particular property.

"Gee Bob, what do you think about that house at 123 main street that sold for 500,000?"

Zillow makes it clear that they make their money on the advertising. Looking at their marketing, unzestly clean zestimates, and confusion created a site like zillow will actually make people want to use agents even more.

People will be overloaded with useless information that they'll need someone with expertise.

realting,
Nice catch on the wording and I can see how this could be easily manipulated. Imagine paying someone to enter the addresses of every home for sale in the area you work or would like to work.

Just a little canned statement such as "Nice 3bed/2bath brick ranch on .5 acre lot. Must see this property! I can show you this or any other property in the area."

Then everytime someone does a search for a specific property or inputs their home and looks at the zestimate comparibles up will pop your profile and the mini blog on the property!

Freedom of speech and freedom of information are at the heart of all this. My own "guesstimates" tell me that the Z is on to something big. This new product is even bigger and more powerful than their "zestimate" product. Who knows maybe eventually they will phase out the zestimate and go with 100% social networking.

Keep in mind about a month ago my-currency.com launched with emphasis on creating discussions on property values. They started the group valuation trend. Obviously the Z has to come up with a better product.



I think that might get you in trouble. But something like this might be okay...try..

"Can you believe they want $625,000 for this property?
Call me I can show you a better deal. This thing is way overpriced. You'd have to be fool to buy it."

Ditto on the mini blog pop up. The smart agent will know how to use zillow to their advantage. I've been telling all my agents that zillow is great news for the industry. 90% of the work we do today I dont care to continue so let zillow and all the dot com do it. 10% of the work we do earn me 100% of my income.

You can't automated skills. That's where we come in.

This new Z feature is nothing more than a collection of property value blogs.

It's clear many licensed agents and brokers don't understand the law of agency and the effect it has on listing contracts and implied sub-agency relationships.

IMHO, as soon as others get wind of this it will be snubbed out.

duplicate

What relationship? Zillow is saying ANYONE can POST and TALK about ANY property for sale. People talk about property values already. Zillow is putting the discussions online.

If it looks like Z is intruding into your comfort zone, they are. But they're not practicing agency. I wouldn't bet against the Z model, I'd start using them to your advantage.

Implied agency? That's interesting. How does implied agency come to play? Anybody can post.

You're not allowed to market another's listing without their permission, no matter what Zillow says you can or can't do.

That's an interesting thought but people aren't marketing houses. They are "discussing" house values and they are talking about properties for sale.

It's not different from you and I discussing different aspects of real estate marketing. Zillow wants people to talk about
houses and house values.