Anyone running a local real estate site and charging real estate agencies to list their properties?

Centurian has made many valid points here. Like Centurian, I am also a Realtor. I am in the Syracuse, NY area.

All States and countries have different real estate laws. As well, in the U.S., we have the NAR (National Association of Realtors. Then there are Federal departments with governing statutes. In addition, each state has a governing body (the Department of State in New York) and a State Board of Realtors as well as localized Boards of Realtors. I bring this up because how you present and/or implement your wares and services, especially with IDX, you need to be aware of whether or not you are sharing liablility with the agent and/or broker. IDX integrations are heavily controlled by all of the real estate boards as well as governing statutes protecting distribution of protected and private information. I have some experience with the IDX as I am a certified IDX reseller as well as an agent. Just make sure you cover your respective butts!

So as to whether this is a good time to play in this pool, I have had incredible success in the past 18 months with high end agents. However, you need to think big and really present yourself in a very sophisitcated manner with this level of agent as well as the products and services you will present and implement. What happens in a market like this is reflective of class status. Here in the U.S., and other locales around the world, we are seeing a division of the classes. This dramatically effects real estate. In my state, I have found that there is a particular type of agent to approach. High end agents in our state are actually doing better the before the crash because more than 60% of our agents are out, or getting out, of the business. This actually creates more business for the agents at the high end of the trade. I have a formula for finding the right high end agents that makes a good fit for an online platform I have designed that really kicks ass. I will say this, if you want to really get serious money, I currently get $24k per year per client, then you need to design a platform that really dominates a local real estate boards geographic and demographic area. This is actually pretty easy once implemented. Do it wrong, and you'll bomb. Do it right, after a few months of work per client, and you have an easy and not very time consuming to maintain, money maker with long term clients.

If you are simply offering SEO and client capture. It won't be enough for this level of agent. Oh, by the way, I stay away from the owner brokers, especially the big box brokers. However, in the ranks of these big box brokers are wonderful high end agents to hook up with. I work in a big box brokerage. We are the 5th largest Coldwell Banker franchise in the nation with over 500 agents. The broker has approached me several times, but working for them would be just too much of pain. I like the agents, and I limit the number of agents I implement these platforms for in any given territory. Generally, 1 agent per 250k in population. My nearest competitor is a company called Tiger Leads. They currently have about 85 or 90 high end agents around the country at anywhere from $4k to $12k per month. My system outshines them and their business model is quickly losing ground because they are not focused on organics as I am. I haven't been selling or listing properties for over a year now due to my success with my formulas and platforms, but I keep my credentials at this franchise in exchange for some other related services. The agents I have sold pushed me well into 6 figures in the lat 12 months and next year I'll more than double my revenues.

This market isn't for quick or fast short term clients, this market is clearly for a sophisticated platform that is designed for long term domination. IMHO!

T J

The FSBO Niche is a very tough market. Their numbers are down in the last 8 years from 14% (2003) of the market in the U.S. to less than 9% (2010). FSBOs are more popular in rural areas and center cities.
The following Poll Is Conducted By Independent Federal Research Annually as to why home owners are trying to sell on their own.

• Did not want to pay commission fee: 38%
• Sold it to a relative / friend / neighbor: 32%
• Did not want to deal with an agent: 12%
• Buyers contacted seller directly: 11%
• Agent was unable to sell home: 5%
• Could not find agent to handle transaction: 1%
• Other: 1%

Typically FSBO sellers have lower median incomes and are more often singles. Even the founder of forsalebyowner.com had to use a Realtor to sell his own home this year (Former FSBO CEO sells home the traditional way - Zillow Real Estate Advice). In addition, I have worked the FSBO Market in the past. Every successful Realtor has made the FSBO market a part of their business model for decades. FSBO's are not willing to spend money very easily. Obviously they want to save money. That's why they don't want to pay a Realtor. As well, in the long run, we know statistically that over 65% of FSBO's end up using a Realtor to sell their home. FSBO's are generally either over financed in their home or completely ignorant to the expense it takes to truly get a home sold. FSBO's have no clue how to properely price a home either. Typically they won't stage the home, don't know how to negotiate, and in NY State they are required by law to conduct the marketing, sale and closing following and adhering to the same governing statutes that Realtor's must follow. And here is the biggest problem for FSBO's, Realtor's control 98% of the home buyers in the market place throughout the U.S. and that number hasn't changed since the great depression! In 1991, 19 percent of sellers, or almost one in five, sold their home as a FSBO, and 77 percent retained the help of a buyers agent. In 2010, fewer than 10 percent sold as a FSBO and 88 percent, or almost nine in 10 sellers, worked with a buyers agent. The one thing that hits home more than all of that is we know factually and statistically through multiple channels of reporting (local, national, private companies, and federal and state authorities) that Realtor's traditionally get an average of 17% more for residential properties over FSBO's. That kind of differential has long been the case. But as with any statistic about pricing, deeper analyses are needed to know whether that differential is caused by agents' ability to more accurately price listings or whether FSBOs tend to congregate at lower price points or in lower-cost markets. It could be a combination of these factors.

I appreciate your wanting to break in to the Real Estate Market, but I most certainly wouldn't start with FSBO's. Seasoned Realtor's find them to be the most difficult and cheapest of clients. An inexperienced marketer may find them very disappointing.

If you want to break in to this market, find the agents that are already spending $25k or more a year on marketing and lead generation. My office of 60 agents has 9 agents spending well over this and my estimate is there are over 50 in our market where we have gone from 3000 agents in 2003 to 938 agents as of our last board meeting in September. Find the agents that have a bunch a money instead of looking at FSBO's is my recommendation. They are just too hard to squeeze any real money out of and in the end they are going to be over priced and end up using a Realtor anyways.