According to Money.com, Zillow and Trulia account for nearly 50% of traffic to national online listings sites. Announcement of their impending merger this year sent stocks of both companies through the roof. But many real estate professionals aren’t thrilled with the news, and it’s unclear whether homeowners will benefit from this business arrangement.
Impact on Clients
For buyers and sellers, there probably won’t be much of an immediate impact. Most people have already heard of — and probably used — one or the other site as they started the buying or selling process. The biggest complaint against both Zillow and Trulia seems to be that they often have inaccurate information, whether it’s the school district the home is located in or out-of-date sold statistics. Neither site has access to complete MLS listings, so they get their information from brokers, third-party real estate professionals and other sources. None of that is likely to change, so there’s no reason to think the new site will be more accurate or more useful than the current ones.
One other possible downside for clients: For both sites, the majority of their revenue comes from ads placed by agents. With less space available on a merged site, it’s possible ad rates could rise, shutting out many agents and leaving only a few to benefit from having their ads alongside listings. In addition, agents could pass on the higher cost of doing business to their clients.
Any way you look at it, though, most people still need an experienced professional to properly finalize their real estate transactions. A new supersite won’t be able to take the place of a real, live agent who can guide buyers and sellers through all the ups and downs of the market and the homebuying and homeselling process. As long as you’re still providing invaluable and excellent service to your clients, this merger will really just be a blip on your radar.
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