Real estate agents and brokers should evaluate the portals where they place their home listings to maximize their effectiveness, said Spencer Rascoff, the CEO of home listing portal and mortgage rate search marketplace Zillow.
“Strategic distribution,” as Rascoff called it, is necessary because the number of real estate listing websites has proliferated and agents, brokers and MLS boards must give a careful review of what sites they're sending listings to, as opposed to the “shotgun approach” of listing distribution strategies of the past.
Rascoff, speaking at a real estate technology conference ongoing this week in New York City, said online destinations like Zillow provide brokers and agents with more exposure to their listings because the sites are highly trafficked, provide dedicated access via mobile devices and access to bonus content, like the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. ZMM is accessible from the Zillow homepage, its own dedicated mobile app, as well as Zillow's property listing app.
“A decision not to post listings on Zillow, Realtor.com or other major media sites is tantamount to not having users see your listings on a mobile device,” Rascoff said.
Rascoff said Zillow is trending toward an average of 50 homes viewed every second from its mobile applications. On weekdays, 30% of Zillow's total online traffic comes from its mobile property listing and mortgage rate apps and that rate increases to 40% on weekends.
