On Compensation for Listing Data

Jay Thompson provides this perspective on the latest news about listing syndication:

I’ve read (and participated in) many discussions about ARG Abbott Realty Group pulling their listings from national syndication sites over the past 24 hours.

A recurring theme keeps coming up.

It is another point the “anti-syndication” crowd tends to rally around, and another point I don’t understand.

“Agents and brokers deserve compensation for their listing data.”

“In the information age, Agent’s listings data are Valuable, and they need compensation for it.”

“That listing data is valuable. They should pay us for it!”

Syndication sites take listing data “without compensation to the brokers, agents, photographers and videographers who create, pay for and own the content.”

So it seems there are many out there that feel we should be compensated for our listing data.

Uhm, we are compensated.

It’s called a commission check.

You know, that payment you get from your home selling client when you do what you were hired to do — sell their home.

Some of those commission checks can be rather substantial.

But you want additional compensation for your listing data?

Plan to share that additional compensation with your client? You know the one who really, if you think about it, should “own the data” from their own home.

Good grief.

This ought to play out well with the general public — that group of people that buy and sell homes. That group of people that become your clients. A significant percentage of that general public thinks all real estate agents are blithering idiots. Smarmy sales people. Money grubbers.

And now you want “additional compensation” for listing data.

::Sigh:: It’s no wonder this profession has a big giant scarlet letter ‘A’ tattooed across our collective foreheads.

Here’s an idea.

Do your job. Sell your client’s home. Smile and thank them profusely when you get your compensation.

And stop being greedy.

To view the original article visit the Phoenix Real Estate Guy blog.