Zillow v Realtor.com

By: Tiffany Flemming

If you’re going to search for homes over the weekend, make sure you’re using the best source possible. “In today’s competitive market, having immediate and accurate information is crucial to having a competitive advantage.” - Tiffany Flemming

Realtor.com is directly syndicated thru our Indiana Regional Multiple Listing System (IRMLS), which is operated by the non-profit; The Upstate Alliance of REALTORS®(UPSTAR). Realtors submit ALL their listings to the IRMLS, and are usually shown on Realtor.com within 15 minutes. “Realtor.com and local brokerage sites are more complete, timely, and accurate because of direct access to the IRMLS.” – Tiffany Flemming

Zillow (owns Trulia) is a for-profit who aggregates their listing data from National Broker sites, other third-party sources (e.g. Oodle, hotpads, public records etc.), or directly from property owner (Make Me Move) or agent. This could take multiple days for information to be updated, and allows for greater error of information. Our IRMLS does not syndicate to Zillow.

So what's the difference?  Zillow may include more rentals as well as off-market or up and coming listings that a broker is marketing yet hasn't loaded into the MLS database. It’s in Zillow’s best interest to show you as many properties as possible, whether they’re really for sale or not, in order to keep you on their site longer and to entice you to submit your information. UPSTAR does not allow “coming soon” or “pocket listing” advertising.

Zillow makes money by capturing leads (aka every time you request information about a particular home), where then that information is then sold to an Agent as a paid advertiser. These agents have paid significant amount of money to have access to your information.

“If your dream home is something specific - 2 Story home, built in the 1980’s on 2 acres with city sewer – you’re best served by contacting your preferred Noll Team Realtor where they can connect you with free, direct access to our local MLS thru a defined client portal. It’s the most comprehensive and up to date search interface provided, at a local level.” – Tiffany Flemming

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