Edina, Minn. – May 22, 2012 –Edina Realty announced today that it will no longer send its property listings to Realtor.com. However, due to technical issues, the company advises that it could take 10 days or more for its entire listings database to disappear from Realtor.com. Last November, Edina Realty also made a strategic move to stop sending its real estate listings to Trulia.com, a non-broker-controlled real estate aggregator.
Edina Realty is participating in a nationwide outcry against non-broker-controlled websites over concerns with data inaccuracy and consumer privacy. Another cause for concern is the fact that sales leads often go to the highest paying agent rather than the agent with the greatest property expertise or market knowledge.
“Consumers are getting the short end of the stick on these sites because there’s no guarantee that the property data is accurate, and it’s difficult to tell who the listing broker is,” said Bob Peltier, president and CEO of Edina Realty Home Services. Peltier explained that non-broker syndicators and third party aggregators don’t have the same legal obligations as brokers, so they are not held to the same high standards of data accuracy and customer service.
“Edinarealty.com has more listings and generates more traffic than any other broker-owned or non-broker owned site in our market,” said Peltier. Edina Realty belongs to more MLS boards than any other real estate firm in its markets, making it a complete resource for virtually all property listings in Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
Peltier added that real estate is a local business; most people move an average of only 12 miles* from their current residence. “Consumers need agents with expertise in their local areas, and we have the best agents and the most up-to-date and comprehensive information for our markets,” Peltier said.
In addition to operating the area’s highest trafficked real estate website, Edina Realty also operates a customer service center that’s open seven days a week to field property inquiries and answer real estate-related questions.
For more information on the housing market, to view homes for sale and property listings, or to find a REALTOR® who specializes in your community, visithttp://www.edinarealty.com or m.edinarealty.com from your mobile device. You can also download free apps from your iPhone or Android phone.
*Source: National Association of Realtors
Edina Realty, a subsidiary of HomeServices of America, is one of the nation’s largest real estate companies with approximately 60 real estate offices throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin and nearly 2,100 REALTORS®. Edina Realty’s family of companies includes Edina Realty, Edina Realty Title, and Edina Realty Mortgage. Edina Realty handled more than 27,000 transactions and $5.4 billion in sales volume in 2011. For more information, visit www.edinarealty.com, m.edinarealty.com, or find us on Facebook: facebook.com/EdinaRealty; and Twitter:Twitter/Edina_Realty
Victor – an update on the traffic statistics cited in the article: the Realtor.com Network (which includes our experiences on MSN and AOL) is #1 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Here are the local comScore numbers for website traffic in April:
Realtor.com Real Estate Network: 283,000 UUs
Zillow + Yahoo combined: 236,000 UUs
Trulia.com: 139,000 UUs
EdinaRealty.com: 123,000 UUs
These numbers do not include traffic from our mobile apps, which provide significant additional exposure.
For our thoughts on this, please see: http://www.realtor.com/blogs/2012/05/22/an-update-on-our-relationship-with-edina-realty/
I think that they use HItwise data (data sampled from the local ISPs) rather than ComScore data (data constructed through the ComScore panel survey) to measure data. Regardless, these are impressive numbers for all parties. They are one of the few brokerages in America who are in the top 20 for traffic (missing is their nearest competitor – NRT owned Coldwell Banker Burnett).
It will be interesting to see what happens. They saw traffic raise when they pulled their data off of the FSBO sites. Consumers noticed that the listings were not there, and went to the source for the property information. Unlike Realtor.com – some of those sites contacted their sellers and agents with disparaging remarks – Shocking and unprofessional behavior.
I really respect your position, which was nicely summarized on your website: “We’re not going to play games with their agents, or try to compromise their standing with consumers in their market.” Being a member of the REALTOR family is obvious from your conduct and applauded.
Edina is going to break from the pack and make a go of it on their own. They have studied their strategy deeply and are not making an emotional choice. They have confidence that they can pull away, and so far – it has worked. Like you, I respect this company’s leadership and have confidence that they will carefully measure this strategy effectively. We will see what happens next.
Bold move. Very interesting times.
Thanks for the info Victor!
Kevin