A recent partnership was announced between Edina Realty and a trio of real estate portals, including Zillow®, Trulia and realtor.com®. Edina Realty—a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate—began sharing its listings directly from the MLS on Sept. 30.
Edina Realty will share its listings information with Zillow for the first time, and the company is re-entering into partnerships with Trulia and realtor.com® after pulling its listings from those sites beginning in 2011, citing concerns over accuracy, adequate disclosure of listing agent and broker information, and more.
“Pulling our listings from Trulia and realtor.com® beginning in 2011 was the right move because it started an industry-wide dialogue about listing accuracy and attribution, said Greg Mason, Edina Realty Home Services President and CEO in an interview with RISMedia Tuesday. “Additionally, it challenged Zillow, Trulia and realtor.com® to be more broker-, agent- and consumer-friendly with their products offerings. We’re excited to form mutually beneficial partnerships with them today, and we feel it’s a win for our agents and clients who benefit from greater accuracy and listing attribution because the partners now accept direct data feeds from us and from the MLS.”
In a statement he also said, “The national sites have made enhancements in order to improve the consumer experience as well as the relationship with the broker and agent. For example, on Trulia, the listing agent is now identified alongside their listing at no charge to the agent,” says Mason. “Additionally, the sites are striving for greater data accuracy.”
Edina Realty’s website and mobile apps average a combined total of over two million visits every month and are the most highly trafficked real estate website and apps in the region. The company has led the market in sales for 14 consecutive years and is the region’s largest real estate company with more than 60 offices and 2,300 REALTORS®.
“We remain confident that our clients’ listings receive the best online exposure on edinarealty.com and through our mobile apps, but now their listings will also appear on these national online sites,” says Mason.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be building a relationship with Edina Realty whereby their direct listing feed will be updated every 15 minutes,” says Spencer Rascoff, Zillow chief executive officer. “It has always been our goal to be the best partner to the industry we can be, and in turn, offer the millions of consumers who visit Zillow the best experience possible. Edina Realty joining Zillow Pro for Brokers helps make that a reality. Now, home shoppers in Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have the most accurate and up-to-date view of the market, while home sellers can rest assured their home is being marketed to the largest audience of home shoppers.”
Edina Realty’s groundbreaking move to pull its listings from Trulia and realtor.com® beginning in 2011 contributed to an ongoing industry-wide discourse about data accuracy and ownership, customer service, and legal obligations by non-broker controlled media companies.
“We’re committed to providing the best customer experience,” says Mason, “so we’re happy that our position brought greater awareness around issues with accuracy and listing ownership, and that it contributed to many key changes with the national partners,” he added. “We’ll continue advocating on behalf of our clients and agents to deliver the best real estate experience possible.”
For more information, visit www.edinarealty.com.
