6% mafia? And how much does the average Realtor make in a year? I don’t have the exact number but I’ve been told $24K – $30K, I don’t think your average Realtor is getting rich. (especially in this market)

“giving the public access to this data” Did the public spend $200 to hire a photographer, did the public spend hours with the seller collecting information about the home, did the public spend hours filling out paperwork or inputting the data into the MLS database? Will the public spend hundreds of dollars marketing the home in newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and the internet? Why do you think the Public should have any ownership of the data. As a Realtor I pay hundreds of dollars a year to display listings other than my own on my website.
There are thousands of research firms in this country who collect data, do you feel you should have free access to that as well?
If you want to take a look at my data you are welcome to drop by my office or browse my website, if you want to sell it or market it as your own take a hike.

I got on this site because I want to know where and how zillow gets their information. I would love to sell you my house, no questions asked, for what zillow says it is worth!!! Zillow says it’s worth $13,500 more than what I KNOW it would sell for.

So how do you get your information?

It seems that the best way for most buyers and sellers to get full access to the MLS is to just contact a local real estate agent and view the listings on their site. Just about every agent now can provide a client with a login so they can view all the listings on the MLS in their area.

http://activera...-FranklyMLS-com

homeValence.com employs a different approach to real estate valuation with a social media twist; the initial version leverages home appreciation data gathered by Fannie Mae & Freddy Mac.

http://www.homevalence.com

For the guy that thinks it shouldn’t cost over a thousand dollars to sell a home I suggest FSBO.com and hire a good lawyer. When it hasn’t sold in a year or so hire someone that does this for a living. I see it all the time, people do not realize what a good agent can do for you. They also believe we walk away with a 6% commission check and do very little work. There is one for Myth Busters!

I hear a lot a Realtor and NAR hatred in here from non agents that think they should have every right to MLS data. Oh, then there is Redfin that has the MLS feed and still hates Realtors, so much so that they hire agents as employees. What a novel idea, I know what kind of service I get from an under paid employee in other sectors. I can’t imagine hiring a paid by the hour working employee to sell my biggest investment.

Good real estate agents build relationships with real people that like and trust them. They count on us for our local expertise of local conditions that no zestimate or heat map can give you. The real world is that good agents will always have clients that like them, trust them and refer them. These fancy national websites with gimmicks and gadgets will never replace a good real person.

Dennis Pease
Eugene Oregon Homes

After using several of these others services I have settled on ziprealty. The reason is not just because of the number of listing but I feel that it has by far the best user interface and useful features out of any of the other services I have tried.

For me the measure of quality for a real estate search is not only the fact that it has most properties for sale but also it must give me the tools to help me organize my search and make an informed decision.