Adjustments and clarifications: The title of a larger version of this story gave the wrong moment. Changes in the list will happen later in May.
The real estate giant Zillow shakes the residential industry with new standards, which the company says that fall in line with new regulations aimed at transparency, but others believe that they are a game of power from the largest real estate registration service in the country.
The company has announced that any property that is publicly launched into the consumer market – whether through signs for a yard, in social media publications or on a mediation website – but is not mentioned in local MLS within a single work day, it will no longer appear in Zillow or its subsidiary Trulia.
Sometimes agents will make an agreement with a seller who says they will list the property only on their website for mediation, not in MLS. The new Zillow standards follow, they say they will not show these ads. Similar lists posted on the platform before these new standards remain on the website.
In case you missed it: As real estate lists become more part, Zillow returns back
This step is in accordance with the National Association of Policy for the Clear Cooperation of Brokers, which aims to prevent selectively offered property lists of certain people and to create a uniform game for all buyers.
“At the heart of these standards is a simple principle: a listing that is publicly available to every buyer must be launched to every buyer. This means in MLS, Zillow, and even portals that are not portals or brokerage sites,” the April’s Zillow message said. “Why is this important? Because users deserve fair access to lists without having to access behind a velvet rope controlled by any company.”
Several real estate intermediaries, including West USA Realty, Exp Realty and Nexthome, have already sworn to following the new Zillow standards.
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But homes.com, another prominent real estate company, criticizes the new Zillow standards in an email to agents subscribers, stating that the listing platforms should remain neutral and that it is a “strong epic proportion game”.
“Zillow claims that they, not pomegranate, not your mediation, not you, the advertising agent – and even the homeowner whose house is and pays to the committee – has to decide how a list is offered,” says Andrew Florence, founder and CEO of Costar, Homes.com. “This is not about protecting consumers – but about protecting Zillow’s ability to profit from lists by selling leads to competitive agents.”