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Where do listings come from? How will list hub’s termination affect Zillow?

June 6, 2016 By Tayson Rockefeller Leave a Comment

Yes, this is another one of those posts explaining how listings are born, then appear on websites like Zillow and realtor.com. With several new changes to the internet web platforms in recent years, I thought it might be a good time to update this post.

First, a refresher on how listings are born.

Each listing you see online was created by a real estate agency, and typically one agent within an agency. A seller agrees to list a property for sale with that agent, and that agent uploads it to what is called the multiple listing service in most cases.

***The multiple listing service is a database where information about properties is stored, including the ability for agents with other agencies to cooperate with one another, understand how the agents are compensated, and provide information to appraisers (amongst other things).

There is not just one multiple listing service, and there is not a method to the madness in terms of what MLS system an agent uses. There are approximately 1,400 Multiple List Services operated by a local real estate association across the country. For example, the Teton Board of Realtors operates the Teton MLS which covers a bit of East Idaho and Western Wyoming. The Idaho Falls Association of Realtors operates the Snake River MLS and covers most of Eastern Idaho except for Teton County. You start to get the idea, even Phoenix has two multiple listing services that serve the city because there are so many properties for sale. (ever see duplicate listings online? This is because an agent uploaded the same listing to two MLS’s) Each listing in these MLS databases is then sent to, or syndicated with another website. Historically this has been done through a company called List Hub which is a syndication service. List Hub would gather the information from each MLS, and provide a feed to sites like Trulia and Zillow. So, listings are created by an agent, entered into an MLS, that information is then distributed to other web platforms.

Anyway, back to the latest news;

The first major change we saw recently was Zillow group’s acquisition of Trulia. You probably won’t notice too much of a difference on the customer end, but all of us agents now work on one platform for both web sites. Agent profile pages, reviews, all took a hit because of this. If you have had the question in years past which is better or more accurate in terms of Zillow or Trulia, I would say the same at this time. Continue to use whichever site you are more comfortable with.

In even bigger news, we saw a fairly drastic change in the world of News Corp, who owns Move, Inc. You may not know who Move is, but they operate realtor.com which is directly related to the National Association of Realtors. Move also owns the syndication platform mentioned above, List Hub. Knowing that realtor.com and Zillow are competitors, Move made a sharp decision in January of this year to stop supplying feeds from List Hub to the Zillow group. In a hearing in February a judge granted another month of data from List Hub to the Zillow group. Without that preparation time for the Zillow group, we likely would have seen Zillow lose several hundred thousand listings online. Without List Hub, the alternative for companies like the Zillow group was to contact each multiple listing service and request a feed directly from them. In many cases, we found that local MLS boards contacted the Zillow group directly to insure the listings would not be lost on these websites. Such is the case with our Teton MLS, which is why you continue to see local listings on these web sites.

Nationally, it is my opinion that because of this independent brokerage websites and realtor.com are the most reliable source for listing accuracy. It is unlikely that there are very many multiple listing services that are not providing data to sites or companies like the Zillow group, but it is likely that there will remain a few for years to come.

HOA’s & Rental Restrictions

May 17, 2016 By Tayson Rockefeller Leave a Comment

If any of you read the local paper, or follow social media etc. here in Teton Valley, you probably remember the drama with a Condo Homeowner’s Association in Driggs, ID that made the decision to require landowners and property managers to restrict long-term rentals (longer than 30 days) to “single family” use. That association later defined single family as:

(In an email to TVRManagement & other local property management firms dated January 5th, 2016) “Tenant” is defined as a single person, or a couple living together as a family, regardless of gender. The other occupants may include the child or children of the “Tenant.” Occupancy of each rental unit will be restricted to a maximum of six (6) persons. No subletting shall be permitted. All other provisions in Section 8 of the Amended Rules and Regulations shall remain in full force and effect.

Many of us tried to make an argument that the HOA was in a violation of the Fair Housing Act, but remember the protected classes under the act are race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin. This does not include marital status or sexual orientation – however you will note “regardless of gender” in the above definition, which was a product of another issue which arose during the HOA’s – successful – eviction of all tenants that did not meet the strict guidelines above.

As mentioned above, that homeowner’s association was successful in evicting all tenants in violation based on their own definition, mostly due to threats of immediate action for hefty fines and liens. That sparked me to write a post on HOA Fines and the procedures HOA’s must follow.

Read the story here: Can Homeowner’s Assosiations fine me for violations?

THEN – (and rather ironically) Idaho Legislature amended the bill where I derived the information for the above article, House Bill 511 to go on to state:

(3) No homeowner’s association may add, amend or enforce any covenant, condition or restriction in such a way that limits or prohibits the rental, for any amount of time, of any property, land or structure thereon within the jurisdiction of the homeowner’s association, unless expressly agreed to in writing at the time of such addition or amendment by the owner of the affected property. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the enforcement of valid covenants, conditions or restrictions limiting a property owner’s right to transfer his interest in land or the structures thereon so long as that covenant, condition or restriction applied to the property at the time the homeowner acquired his interest in the property.

With the above said, the HOA in this example in Driggs will probably keep the rule in effect stating that it was passed by the board prior to the amendment of this bill- whether that’s legal or not. In fact, the original amendment was passed by a board majority vote based on the board’s authority to do so… meaning there is a separate statement in the bylaws authorizing the board to make amendments without approval of the owners as stated in the bylaws. I am sure this statement was meant to be used in an emergency situation (authorizing emergency repair work without consent of the owners) and not for purposes described above, but I digress.

I am sure the situation with this particular HOA will work itself out. Despite my posts about HOA’s, they are not evil. They are created with a necessary purpose, and operated on a voluntary basis. Most of the time, (99% of the time) for good, genuine reasons. At least we know these situations happen elsewhere, and are gaining attention.

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