The buy-side (aka home search) is completely different. Not only does this function in the industry have extensive changes taking place with the advent of commoditized brokerages (i.e. Redfin, Buyside), but brokers/agents do not have the incentive to spend marketing dollars seeking buyers whereas sellers are different.

Keep in mind, a contract with a buyer has a small percentage of bringing in a commission check whereas a listing agreement, or contract with a seller, has a tremendous chance. Agents are more inclined to advertise for listings not buyers.

Bottom line, we’re just beginning to explore real estate with technology and its exciting. The industry will only become more professional and consumer centric. The question now becomes how do brokerages position themselves for success when part of their value, that being information, is now liberated?

Looking further, it was a foreclosure property and the auction was scheduled for July.

How lame…

Yesterday, I used Yahoo Real Estate yesterday for the first time. It sucked. Only 4 listings, some from fsbo, when MLS gave 40 or 50 good listings with better info. Saw your posting today. Same thing. Still sucked.

Yahoo gets into a lot of things because of its traffic but unless there’s a good user expereince ala travel which they farm out to travelocity, no one is going to use it. Yahoo then ends up damaging its own reputation because we trust them less.

And no, I don’t work for them, but I plan on using them to buy a place for that reason alone.

There is also an excellent site at netronline.com that contains a lot of public record information on properties from tax assessors in the US.

I think the truth of the matter of the new millennium is that within the G.Y.M the ability to copy any entrepreneurs work instantaneously gives no real reason to introduce new designs and business models to the Internet; unless you want to benefit there pocketbook, not your own.

Microsoft has been copying traditional software models forever, but now Yahoo with there very simple advertising business model need to keep them within there walled garden for revenue to pay there 1000’s of engineers that think they can better serve all models their data show is valuable keeping the revenue to themselves; instead of as a search engine should–make revenue off the search and lead them into a competitive landscape. This is turning into Walmart vs the small towns in my eyes–and we all know how much small towns have been hurt. At least Google is concentrating on services that ‘not as much’ hurt start-up businesses, ans still try hard to redirect users to other sites more then there own.

The new reality is they all are going to copy any business model that may add to there bottom line or keep them within there walled garden. Good for Zillow i guess for using this new molded reality.

Search Engines are the new photocopy machines.
It is a very sad time for entrepreneurs dreams;

unless you are with-in there walls.