August 2014

The NEFMLS has received several calls from concerned brokers who have been contacted directly by Zillow.  They are being told that only some of their listings may be appearing on Zillow.com.  We want to assure all members that any listing you request to appear on Zillow.com is on their website.  The only listings we found that are not appearing on Zillow.com, were not supposed to appear.  They had one of the following options selected within the listing:

1. Seller directs listing to be excluded from Internet
2. Seller directs listing to not be used in AVM's
3. Seller directs listing to not allow comments

These options can be verified on the Export Tab in the Add/Change Listing module of Flexmls. 

 

Other broker questions we were asked, brought to light a few topics of discussion that should be clarified:

1. These calls from Zillow are simply sales oriented.  They are offering additional services in exchange for getting your listing data direct from you, the broker, instead of via ListHub.
2. Should you choose to send data direct to Zillow.com, LIKE ANY CONTRACT, PLEASE HAVE YOUR ATTORNEY REVIEW THE AGREEMENT BEFORE SIGNING.  Be sure you understand the terms and the language on the agreement.  If you have questions, again, contact your attorney.
3. Another area of confusion, you DO NOT HAVE to put your listings on Zillow.com.  That is an Internet marketing decision you should evaluate and put in place if desired.
4. Some real estate websites do not accept those listings where the "no AVM" or "don't allow comments" options are selected.  That is a per site business decision.  We recommend using the reports found on ListHub to fully understand what each site's policies are concerning your data - what is published on the site, do they re-syndicate data and if so to whom and so forth.  These reports can help you determine which third party sites are right for your business.

If you have any questions, please contact Technical support at (904) 394-9494 x 1605.