1. WRAR - Helping
Brokers to Reclaim
Their Listing Data

2. Jody Wainio, SFR, WHS
Buyers Choice Realty
2014 WRAR President
David Eggleston Jr., ABR, SFR
Intracoastal Realty
2013 WRAR & MLS Director
Marilyn Wilson
Founding Partner of WAV Group
Board of Trustees for the National Small
Business Association

3. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®
Jody Wainio, SFR, WHS
Buyers Choice Realty
2014 WRAR President
Reasons for Formation of Listing Syndication Taskforce
• Broker and Customer Complaints of Inaccurate data
• Putting brokers back in control of their Data
• New focus from NC Real Estate Commission

4. Jody
W I L M I N G TWainio, SFR,IWHS A L
ON REG ON
Buyers Choice Realty
A S S O C I2014IWRAR o f R E A L T O R S ®
A T O N President
Process of Building Recommendation
• Surveyed Broker-owners
• Formed Taskforce of Large Broker IT staff, Brokers
from smaller firms, agents from all size firms
• Several meetings, several studies and materials
reviewed by group
• Evaluated alternative syndication service providers
• 3-month process
• Board of Directors Approved Proposal; marketing
taskforce formed

5. W I L M I N G TWainio, SFR,IWHS A L
Jody O N R E G O N
A S S O C IBuyers ChoicefRealtyA L T O R S ®
ATIO N o RE
2014 WRAR President
Recommendation Approved:
• Discontinue syndication by WRAR as of May 9th, 2014
• Did not renew contract with Listhub – current
syndication services provider
• Marketing taskforce contracted with third party to help
communicate outcomes to members
• Recommendation does NOT affect IDX or VOW policies
in any way

6. What is Listing
Syndication and how is
it different than IDX
and VOW?

7. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®
What is listing
syndication?
• Method for brokers to authorize distribution of their
listings to third parties like Zillow, Trulia, Homes.com
etc.
• Syndicating enables a broker to post their listings
online for display to consumers.
• Any broker who is an MLS Participant may authorize
syndication of his/her company’s listings ONLY.
• Syndication is NOT to be confused with IDX
policies.

8. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®

9. WRAR Listing
Syndication Taskforce
Rationale

10. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®
David Eggleston Jr., ABR, SFR
Intracoastal Realty
2013 WRAR & MLS Director
Reasons for Discontinuing Syndication
• Could not support sending REALTOR® data to
non-REALTOR® organizations
• Data accepted from many sources, not just
REALTORS®
• Creates confusion and mis-information for
consumers

11. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®
Reasons for Discontinuing Syndication
• Data provided has more inaccuracies than broker
websites; More than ¼ of the listings listed for sale are
not active currently
• Taking on broker liability for inaccurate
advertising of listings risk without
significant lead generation and impact

12. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®
Reasons for Discontinuing Syndication
• Many brokers opt in to all channels and then « set it
and forget it »
• Majority of our members did not even
know they had opted-in to all channels
• Allow brokers to make their own decisions about
syndication with the realities of today’s
online marketplace

13. Promise of Listing
Syndication

14. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®
The Original
Premise/Promise
• Listing syndication will provide FREE exposure to
listings
• Put your listings where consumers are shopping – online
• Online will replace costly offline newspaper advertising

15. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®
Reasons for Participation in Listing
Syndication Today
• Provides exposure to your listings especially for
consumers that do not know you yet
• Helps agents secure new clients with the “Quantity”
Story;
• Perception that it is necessary to be competitive

16. Update on Listing
Syndication

17. Third Parties Dominate Online
33,372
Yahoo! - Zillow Real Estate Network
22,065
17,728
Trulia - PRIMEDIA Network
Realtor.com
11,842
ForRent.com & Homes.com Network
5,371
4,374
3,669
3,552
3,548
2,839
2,410
2,377
2,191
2,181
1,536
1,519
1,516
MSN Real Estate
Apartments.com Sites
AOL Real Estate
Coldwell Banker
Century 21 International
LoopNet Sites
FrontDoor
Internet Brands Real Estate
REDFIN.COM
Connectwithlife.com
NCI Interactive
HOMEFINDER.COM
UHAUL.COM
0
5,000
10,000
Total Digital Population
REALTOR.com is #3 now
Mobile now more than 2/3
of total traffic
Local Brands do not Lead
15,000
Mobile
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000

18. Dominate in Mobile
AND Websites
2/3 of traffic
now captured
from mobile
devices
Page 48
Page 41

19. Local Syndication Results
• All Syndication Sites are NOT created equal - Nearly 95% of
property views coming from 3 channels
• Less than 1 click-through per listing per month
• Less than 1 in 4 listings receive an inquiry every month
• 41 of 52 Syndication Channels provide 20 or less inquiries or
email across ALL listings

20. Accuracy Higher on Broker Sites

21. Data Lags on Third
Party Sites

22. Inventories can be overstated
For 28401 Zip Code
WRAR.com – 130 listings
Zillow – 268
Trulia - 220

23. Listing Agent Does Not Get
Top Billing

24. “THE” source for
Agent Referrals
630,000 Reviews
Nationwide
In Just 2 Years

25. THE
Local advisors

26. Calling
the market

27. Affordable Technology Offerings
and Education
50,000 agents pay on average $271 per month
Affordable Technologies
On-going Marketing
Education

28. Defending against the Zestimate
Price $325,000
Zestimate $225,964

29. Other Concerns
• Re-Syndication
Forwarding data on to another (unauthorized) site
• Unauthorized uses
used
Have you affirmatively agreed to your data being
on “Powered by” sites
• Use for 3rd Party Integration
(Sindegration)

30. Broker Responses to
Listing Syndication

31. Stay the Course
Many believe they CANNOT pull out of
syndication no matter what

32. Simply Turn it Off
• Well-known familyowned business in
Wisconsin
• #1 Market Share; Strong
online position - #2
• Gained market share

33. Never turned it on in the
First Place
• 3 to 5% Market Share
• Never turned it on
• Focused efforts on their own
website
• Did not affect recruiting,
retention of listing
presentation success
according to company

34. Focused Efforts with Largest Sites
Pittsburgh – 5000+ Agents
• Chosen two syndication partners and promoted heavily
with them
• Removed listings from all other sites

35. Promote the MLS Site and your
own Broker Site
Jim Abbott
recognizes
power of
MLS Consumer
Website

36. How to Inform Your
Agents

37. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®
• Simply Turn it off and Do Nothing
• Educate them; Show them Lack of impact
• Demonstrate lack of lead conversion vs. other
sources
• Update listing presentations highlight power f
MLS website and IDX/VOW sites
• Invite them to attend Webinar – March 12th at
2:00 pm EST

38. Next Steps

39. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®
Discontinuation Date: May 9th, 2014
The MLS will no longer send your listing data to
any third party site. Third party vendors
should remove brokers’ active listing data.
If you want to continue syndication send email
to support@wrar.zendesk.com

40. Questions?

41. WILMINGTON REGIONAL
A S S OCIATIO N o f RE A LTORS ®
Questions??
To submit a question go to Questions in
Gototraining and type it in:
For More Information go to:
http://www.wrar.com/syndication
For help go to:
support@wrar.zendesk.com

42. 1. We know that the franchises will continue to syndicate whether they have a choice or
not – the little guy says how do I continue to syndicate in order to compete in a costeffective way? Give our brokers the talking points about consumers shouldn’t care
about syndication? If you want to continue send an email to support@wrar.zendesk.com
and you will help them.
2. Realtor.com – are we still going to syndicate to them? Yes
3. Why did we choose to stay with REALTOR.com and not with the others – they have a
direct feed that is more accurate than others and follow the code of ethics – they also
hold the realtor.com brand. We’re giving them a direct feed that is updated every fifteen
minutes
4. Does this mean that you are going to cut off IDX feeds? No, this does not affect IDX in
any way.
5. What will be the cost for me as a small firm to syndicate on my own? We will not leave
them in the lurch – email us at support@wrar.zendesk.com and we’ll help you figure it
out
6. What would WRAR recommend that we do for syndication for our brokerage? It’s really
not up to WRAR – it’s a business decision for you to make for your company
7. What if our firm decides to syndicate via another syndication services provider, will
WRAR support us in that effort? Yes, send an email to support@wrar.zendesk.com and
well do our best to help you.