Real Estate Agents have lost their jobs, they just don’t know it yet. The real estate industry is on its last gasps. The ramifications from the agreement made by NAR and the local MLS associations, making the choice to give listing information to Zillow, was the beginning of what will be a slow, painful, and inevitable death to the Real Estate Services industry.
Without the work of real estate agents and Brokers, there would be no listings nor any information. Without listing information there would be no listings on Zillow.
“Fast forward several years to ‘Premier’ Agents aka ‘Paying’ Real Estate Agents and big Brokers now paying huge sums of money to receive referrals that originated through those same agents/brokers; a continuation in the demise of the profession. In the beginning it was a little prick with only a drop of blood. Today it has morphed into having the bone marrow sucked out of every agent and broker.”
The technology of today has advanced beyond what anyone could have ever imagined 5, 10, or even 15 years ago. Yet, it brings to mind the similarities of how the mob extorted business owners by paying “protection money.”
Zillow/Trulia’s success in marketing and advertising certainly has captured the majority. Some examples of up-selling to the public/consumer result in consumers thinking:
- they can find every home for sale on their site; that every home on Zillow is actually or was recently on the market;
- a home Zestimate means that what a particular home is actually worth;
- title of ’Premier’ Agent really means something other than, agents or brokers who pay a monthly fee to be called that and appear next to all the property listings on the site; or that numbers by the Agents name is indicative of years of valuable experience, level of success or the quantity of transactions an agent has completed throughout their career.
Without highly experienced Real Estate Agents, to protect the interests of the Buyer and the Seller, and above their own interests, fair and honest real estate transactions will become a rarity.
“Zillow, with all its unbelievable success, is poised to become the biggest brokerage company in the world. It likely could easily become Zillow Realty USA all with the blessings, endorsements and financing of NAR, MLS and ’Premier’Agents.”
On second thought, if Karma is real, one can imagine Google Realty USA being the king of kings in Real Estate. Google could bury its friend tomorrow if they had a mind too; a change in algorithm or by Google hogging the first page with Google Listings, bumping Zillow to page 2, could mean chaos for Zillow.
Which will it be, Zillow Real Estate USA or Google Real Estate USA? Anything is possible. The only thing missing is the brokerage license. One thing is certain. It definitely won’t be independent real estate agents or agencies.
Thanks National Association of Realtors. Glad my dues went to support my destruction.
If you are buying or selling a house and are looking to hire a successful real estate agent to help you through the process, take a look at AgentHarvest's list of top-ranking local Realtors in your area. We found these agents by examining their sales track records, awards, rankings, client testimonials and by conducting personal interviews.