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FYI, I'm do technology for the real estate industry, here's some back story. In Real Estate there's a huge concern about "where is my data going" (meaning the

FYI, I'm do technology for the real estate industry, here's some back story. In Real Estate there's a huge concern about "where is my data going" (meaning the listings, photos, etc). This is a big deal to the brokers and agents. I literally just watched an hour long webinar over lunch by Wolf Net about data syndication and every few minutes they were mentioning how they've earned and work to maintain the trust of the brokers and agents by being careful with the data. Now, a significant number of agents and brokers HATE Zillow. There are entire sessions at the conferences about how to keep your listings off Zillow. The reasons are varied and I won't bore you with the details, largely it is because Zillow doesn't put the listing agent's details by the listing. Zillow I imagine has to be very careful not to be seen by agents as releasing this information to other sources, or Zillow's lifeblood will cease to flow. They are teetering on the edge here and a perception by agents could cut off a lot of their data. Zillow probably has to fight this fight. Even if they lose it. They are in a much better position if they say "Hey, we fought this and the courts said we had to", that is a defense against the agents and brokers. If they don't fight it, the sentiment in the RE community could quickly turn against Zillow and cause a lot of damage to their business. This is my speculation, I don't know the internal workings of Zillow.

Gibbon1 9y ago
Far as I can tell the whole real estate industry is built on information asymmetry. As such there is a whole lotta meat there. And the real estate industry isn't going down without a fight.
- linsomniac 9y ago
  That is very true. There is a lot of money that is made because of that asymmetry, 5 digits per sale usually. There's a reason NAR (National Association of Realtors) has a nice big building right in DC. :-)
urethrafranklin 9y ago
Every time I look at listings on Zillow (hey, a person can dream) I see a realtor's photo and contact details, is that not the listing agent?
- jdmichal 9y ago
  If the listing agent is on Zillow, they will usually be the first person in the list. And it will say "Listing Agent" next to their name. The rest of the list will be "Premier Agent", which really just means that they paid Zillow for the privilege of being in those lists.
- linsomniac 9y ago
  If the text next to the agent says "Listing Agent" then yes. For listings where the agent chose to share the listing with Zillow, they will show up, maybe with a good picture, maybe not, along with a bunch of "premier agent" listings. These are agents that paid to be put on this property, like Google Adwords for Real Estate. But some listings don't have the listing agent on Zillow. See my example below. Take for example this: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/13911266_zpid/globalrelevanceex_sort/40.587494,-105.084014,40.537612,-105.142894_rect/13_zm/ https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/13911266_zpid/globalre... vs: https://www.coloproperty.com/listing/details/1125163 https://www.coloproperty.com/listing/details/1125163 Jesse is the listing agent, that second page is from the MLS and is definitely correct. The Zillow listing only lists a Premier Agent, and that is not the listing agent.

Gibbon1 9y ago

Far as I can tell the whole real estate industry is built on information asymmetry. As such there is a whole lotta meat there. And the real estate industry isn't going down without a fight.

linsomniac 9y ago
That is very true. There is a lot of money that is made because of that asymmetry, 5 digits per sale usually. There's a reason NAR (National Association of Realtors) has a nice big building right in DC. :-)

urethrafranklin 9y ago

Every time I look at listings on Zillow (hey, a person can dream) I see a realtor's photo and contact details, is that not the listing agent?

jdmichal 9y ago
If the listing agent is on Zillow, they will usually be the first person in the list. And it will say "Listing Agent" next to their name. The rest of the list will be "Premier Agent", which really just means that they paid Zillow for the privilege of being in those lists.
linsomniac 9y ago
If the text next to the agent says "Listing Agent" then yes. For listings where the agent chose to share the listing with Zillow, they will show up, maybe with a good picture, maybe not, along with a bunch of "premier agent" listings. These are agents that paid to be put on this property, like Google Adwords for Real Estate. But some listings don't have the listing agent on Zillow. See my example below. Take for example this: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/13911266_zpid/globalrelevanceex_sort/40.587494,-105.084014,40.537612,-105.142894_rect/13_zm/ https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/13911266_zpid/globalre... vs: https://www.coloproperty.com/listing/details/1125163 https://www.coloproperty.com/listing/details/1125163 Jesse is the listing agent, that second page is from the MLS and is definitely correct. The Zillow listing only lists a Premier Agent, and that is not the listing agent.