Dear Real Estate Agents,
Boy, a lot has changed in two weeks. The RLS “opt-in” started with a trickle in August…and then turned into an avalanche in September. Believe it or not, brokers are indeed working together. Like one big locked arm hug!
As of today, most brokerage firms large and small have opted into the new REBNY RLS syndication feed. Case in point, Leasebreak.com – an approved RLS partner – now has over 9000 rental listings and growing every day. You will pretty much find every REBNY rental exclusive on our website (and you will find them on the other RLS partner websites too!) If you expect your listing or another firm’s listing to be on our website and it is not, please let me know.
Why is the RLS important? What is it?
The RLS is NOT new. It has been around for years. In fact, it is how brokers share listing information with each other, usually through a third party vendor (i.e. OLR, RealPlus, etc.)
So what is new about the RLS?
Here is what is new about the RLS: For the first time the RLS is making your precious listing data available through syndication to 3rd party websites like Leasebreak.com and The New York Times (see below). This will create more competition in the marketplace instead of relying on just one profit hungry firm whom you have to pay to get leads.
But this takes time. For Leasebreak and other firms to be on an equal footing with StreetEasy in rentals and sales won’t happen overnight. But companies with experience are making progress. For example, Leasebreak will apply the same efforts for 12 month rentals as we did to become #1 in short term rentals and leasebreaks…and the rest of the impressive competitors coming down the pike are also pushing hard, like the New York Times. Speaking of which…
The New York Times and the REBNY-RLS Feed!
Did you hear? Wow. This is huge! The New York Times also signed up to begin taking the new RLS feed sometime in the very near future. Smelling an opportunity to regain the throne, The New York Times is getting into the action. Since having more competition in the consumer-facing listing space is the goal, this is gigantic news.
Those of you may remember when the New York Times was the ONLY PLACE to find an apartment in NYC (pre-StreetEasy). Having the New York Times sign up to the new RLS feed is an indication that things ARE different this time. Things are really changing. History will be written that there are serious consequences when you confuse the consumer and take advantage of real estate agents and their pocketbooks.
However, only when all broker firms “opt in”, will there be real competition in the marketplace.
So, we will have some work to do until every last brokerage “opts-in” to the new REBNY RLS syndication feed. But we are making amazing progress in just a few months.
In sum, the unbelievable broker surge to “opt-in” in the last 2 weeks has been exhilarating and a testament to how well brokers can work together. Keep up the good work!
To remind you, here is the Facebook group where brokers discuss the current situation with StreetEasy and share tips. The Facebook Group has about 350 agents as members!
And here are my previous emails about the changing landscape:
StreetEasy Bows To Corcoran (After Elliman) – September 8th 2017
Zillow/StreetEasy Stock Down 20% – August 17th 2017
5 Ways We Can Crush The StreetEasy Monopoly – August 3rd 2017
Agents To StreetEasy: No, We Don’t Need You – July 18th 2017
Our Response to StreetEasy’s Greed – July 13th 2017
Phil Horigan
Dedicated NYC Real Estate Agent for 13 Years
Founder, Leasebreak.com
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