I got a copy of something today that astounds me to no end.
The Coastal Carolina Board of Realtors sent out a mass email announcing some "affiliate" (a guy who used to work for them, I was told) has created 36 of a proposed 76 local real estate "directory" type sites - SEVENTY SIX of them! We NEED 76 more Myrtle Beach real estate websites, don't we? Although it didn't say so directly and encourage members to sign up, the email itself has sanctioned it.
It will be interesting to see how Google likes this little ring of power when they get going.
Matt Cutts, where are you? Read this, please!
For a list of the sites in the system visit www. MLSMyrtleBeach.com/sites.htm - By the end of 2007 there will be an additional 40 sites added to enhance the system. This will bring the total number of sites working to bring YOU clients, to a whopping 76.
I would guess that they'll be interlinked in some kind of triple or 4-way linking scheme.
Of course the realtors have to pay...and pay dearly.
Look at what one of the pages of the main site says about how to get involved....
www. MLSMyrtleBeach.com/future.htm.
No...I'm not about to throw them a link.
Not anymore, when someone finds your listing in their search and they desire more information, they will click on a link, fill in their name, city of residence and their email address, nothing else will be required. At that point we will test the email address to insure that it is valid. After we receive validation an email will be sent to you with the above information including the MLS# of the listing for which they have an interest. You will be charged a small fee of $9.99 only. That is it, no more large percentage referral fees, no more additional charges. You will see results by only paying for results, not paying for promises. At the time of signing up you will be charged a one time setup fee of $27. Since there are no other fees involved you will remain a subscriber for as long as you are active in real estate.
I have got to say this is one of the most outrageous things I've ever seen. A nice fat $10 per lead.
Then add to that the website people will be quite capable to be banking a copy of those leads for themselves...to sell a dozen times over. I'm in the wrong business!!!!
Not to say they will...but the option is there, and not too many people resist those kinds of options.
The realtors I worked with at New Resorts used to tell me they would sell about one out of every 30 leads. They aren't even doing that, now. That's a steep price to pay for a 3.3% or less chance at a sale.
Ah well..I guess if you can't afford to pay for your own website, it might be your next best option.
Then again, I don't think so.
There are too many other ways that cost a tenth of that. www.backpage.com
www.craigslist.com (free) and even some of the best real estate directories out there, such as www.Reals.com only charge $99 a year for an advertising listing.
But I think the part that upsets me the most is the BOARD OF REALTORS promoting this.
Talk about a captive audience. Or maybe even a conflict of interest. I just can't believe that any organization that is supposed to represent the best interests of realtors and the public would would single out something like this and send it out to all its members.
Unless, of course, there was some kick-back to them....
There are so many Myrtle Beach condo and real estate sites now that the search engines are just saturated. There must be 50 or more sites that have MLS search functions on them. What the heck...let's add a quick 76 more....with the same information re-worded and put out there 76 times.
This stinks in my book. Of course, I'm not a realtor. As a person who respects the search engines for the service they provide, I just hate stuff like this.
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