The downside of Trulia’s new partnerships

Posted on March 9, 2007 by Jim Duncan

Things move quickly! Very soon after the announcement that Realogy would be sending their data to Trulia, I notice that Trulia’s listing for one of my listings no longer goes to my website, but instead goes to Century 21′s website.  Traffic to my site goes down, and now any potential leads that I might have gotten will instead be routed through Century 21. My response time will inevitably be much slower (assuming I get the leads at all). Not to mention that I have many more photos on my site and my site is much easier to customize to maximize my listings’ best features.

But, I guess this will lead to more traffic for my listings, just not with as many pictures or information as before. There are always unintended consequences. Rather than ensure a rapid response from the listing agent, directing people to Century 21‘s site adds at least two more steps into the “getting more information” equation.

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About Jim Duncan

A Charlottesville Realtor who tries to stay on the bleeding/cutting/functional edge of technology and real estate trends. I have been selling real estate for the past 10 years, lived in C'Ville for twenty+ and am married to one of few Charlottesville natives left.
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  • http://transparentre.com Pat Kitano

    As a non-realtor who is intrigued by new business models, this is interesting. Shouldn’t Trulia provide an “opt-out” service that allows Realtors like you to continue to maintain a direct link to your site? Would you use it?

  • http://www.realcentralva.com Jim Duncan

    Pat -

    Technically what they are doing is proper, as all of the listings are owned by the broker/brokerage.

    I believe that the sellers may be harmed a bit because buyers will be less inclined to email for more information as C21′s site is somewhat difficult to navigate, the number of photos is limited, and the leads themselves may or may not be responded to in a rapid fashion (less than 5 minutes is ideal).

    Doing a brokerage-by-brokerage “opt-in/out” would be nice, but may prove impossible due to the number of brokerages out there.

    Or, Trulia will develop a solution that works just fine. Perhaps an “even more information” button that sends buyers to the agents’ sites – sites that have more photos, floorplans, “what’s nearby” features, pod/vid-casts, etc.

  • http://www.mls-2.com Patrick Boyle

    Nothing like that (opt out) will happen as corporate’s main goal is to capture the lead & put it through the relo group for a referral fee. It’s not up to Trulia or technology.

  • http://www.realcentralva.com Jim Duncan

    Patrick -

    I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Dammit.