The local MLS for Pittsburgh / Western Pennsylvania has decided that as of Dec. 15th, only the websites of principal brokers may display information available from the West Penn Multi-List’s Internet Data Exchange (IDX). Real estate agents are permitted to link to their broker’s website but may not frame the data or otherwise display their contact information.
What this means for the real estate consumer: You’ll have to go to the websites of the big real estate agencies in order to view houses. The websites of real estate agents will only be able to display their own listings (absent permission from another real estate agents to display his or her listing).
Let’s check this move for real estate 2.0 friendliness:
Enhancing Information Sharing? No.
Encouraging Technological Advancement? No.
Enabling Better Web Design? No.
Helping Agents Sell Houses? ??????
UPDATE: Here is the language of the new policy:
Rule 13.1
Non-principal brokers and sales licensees affiliated with IDX Subscribers may NOT display information available through IDX on their own websites. Non-principal brokers and sales licensees are limited to having a link to the IDX listings on their website to the subscriber/broker’s site. This link must open as a new page on the internet. The display of IDX listings shall only be on the broker/subscriber’s site and not on the agent’s page on their broker’s site. Links from the agent’s website to the broker’s site shall not include the framing of the agent’s name, image or any other contact information.
A broker infraction of IDX will result in an immediate shut down of all data transference and a fine of $5,000.00 levied to the broker. The service to the broker will not be reinstated until the fine has been paid in full and the site has been corrected.
An agent infraction of IDX will result in an immediate shut down of all services to the agent (key and online) along with a fine of $1,000.00. Service will not be reinstated until the fine has been paid in full and the site has been corrected.
7 responses so far ↓
1 RealEstateUndressed » Blog Archive » Pittsburgh just moved back into the dark ages, or is that forward into dark times. // Nov 28, 2006 at 10:21 pm
[...] click here for a related article from The Pittsburgh Home Daily blog with a less hostile spin. [...]
2 Jonathan Dalton // Nov 28, 2006 at 11:42 pm
Terrible, terrible decision … it almost seems like they’re forgetting their primary job for the listing - getting the house sold. I couldn’t care less if the selling agent is with another broker. Just sell it, baby, just sell it.
3 Larry Cragun // Nov 29, 2006 at 12:45 am
This is a real bad thing. Lar
4 teresa boardman // Nov 29, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Sounds like a great opportunity for the real estate companies, now they can sell the leads that come in through their sites right back to the agents.
I would assume that the listings will still be captured by realtor.com and by Trulia and others? Maybe there is a solution for gathering the data with out using an IDX solution?
5 PHD // Nov 29, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Perhaps there is a way to gather the data without IDX. Seems like the perfect opportunity for a group of agents to get together and form their own MLS-like site and agree to display eac other’s listings on all sites.
6 Jim // Nov 29, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Why would someone come up with such a horrible idea? The only reason people ever went to realtor’s websites was to search for homes. Now they are deprived of the main lead generation method.
I suspect there will either be an uproar or a large number of agents simply leaving the business. We’ll see how the board likes that.
7 Larry Cragun // Dec 20, 2006 at 5:17 pm
PHD: What is the latest on this? I am composing another article on this ugly decision. I have called 10 agents in Pittsburgh today, and am getting fuzzy answers. Lar
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