This is another Open Letter to all of the officers, executives and staff of the National Association of Realtors.
Is Trulia better than Realtor.com? I received an email today from Trulia. Here is part of what was included:
Isn’t it amazing this can even happen? If Realtor.com had been set up correctly in the first place Trulia would not exist. Same with Zillow. Neither one of them would exist at all.
If NAR had set up Realtor.com correctly I wouldn’t have received an email like this one. Now or ever. Trulia is set up to make money for the stockholders of Trulia. Same with Zillow. It isn’t have they made any money yet, it is that is their purpose. They are the "agent’s friend" so that they can make money. Their "purpose" is not to "help agents", it is to make money.
Isn’t it remarkable that they can even make a comparison like the one above? Isn’t it fantastic that there is NO reason (as in none), for any Realtor to feel even the slightest loyalty to Realtor.com in a comparison like the one above?
Realtor.com is supposed to be in complete alignment with the purpose of helping Realtors. That is the "purpose" of the National Association of Realtors. That is the very reason and only reason the NAR exists at all. If they are not directly or indirectly helping Realtors then they are doing something off-purpose, that is not their job and most likely does not need to be done, at least not by them.
Some years ago, NAR pretty much gave Homestore (now known as MOVE, a for profit company) the right to charge Realtors whatever the traffic would bear. Just so long as each Realtor got each of their listings on Realtor.com "for free". It was an unworkable idea from the start and it hasn’t gotten any better. Realtors now get their listings on loads of sites "for free". Eventually, the leaders of the NAR are going to have to face the very unpleasant idea that the entire Realtor.com fiasco hasn’t really "worked" and it isn’t going to work. I understand that the people in power now are not the ones who created this mess in the first place. But there isn’t even any good reason now for recriminations towards them. Now and the future is what matters. Pretending all is well because the people involved are all very nice and you are friends with them isn’t going to solve the problem.
The more time that passes the more traction we lose. Take it back. Now. Sure it is going to be a huge undertaking. Most worthwhile things are.
It is not to late to make this right. Keep losing ground and it eventually will be. Take it back. Do the right thing. You only arrived at your position because you truly wanted to make a positive difference. Take Realtor.com back. It should be a member benefit. Period.