Written By: Matthew Ferrara

It’s been at least a decade since real estate listings hit the web – plenty of time to try every trick to attract consumers. Unfortunately, some websites are still using dinosaur ideas, scaring away the next generation real estate consumer.

In the beginning, when both dinosaurs and listing data roamed aimlessly across the web, nobody knew what would work with consumers. Many different approaches were tried to “get the consumer to contact us.” Most came from a deep psychosis that feared consumers would no longer “need” the agent. Worse, it was thought unreasonable for Gen X and Gen Y consumers to ask us to give them information – give it away! – without agreeing to work with us. Horrible!

Many tyrannasaurus brokers and their stegosaurus siblings, MLS systems, contrived techniques for “mandating” the consumer contact them. They tried hiding the street address (even though they added maps to the page). They tried uploading photos so terrible, and descriptions so dull. And there was the most devious, most ugly, most tortuous trick of all:

Registration required.

Not hard to believe from an industry that for years held the keys to the castle. When confronted with an era of information openness, the last vestiges of mercantile thinking tried anything to force consumers to “need” them. So they hid vital listing information behind a registration page, requiring consumers to trade personal information for product information. No registration, no information. Nah-ne-nah-nah-nah.

And for a while, with few alternate sources online, it made sense. (Almost.)

Yet the next generation of real estate buyer or seller was not to be denied. That’s why you can find the same listing on a dozen websites, maybe ten dozen, today. Consumers said “no trade.” Those websites that refused to listen saw new sites built in their shadows. Soon anything you wanted to know about a home, whether or not it was for sale, was available with no registration required. In fact, a bountiful explosion of useful data happened – saturating modern consumers with all the information they could absorb.

All of which makes it so puzzling that I bumped into a dinosaur website this week. Some online marketing pushed me to the site. Upon arrival, what I saw made me laugh out loud.

Turns out there are plenty of dinosaurs still roaming the web.

When I clicked to see a listing in my neighborhood, I was able to see the price, and a few pretty pictures. Then, like an archeologist finding a live specimen (not just bones) I was shocked. Standing between me and the property description was silliosaurus realestatus:

The pattern was repeated throughout the listing, obscuring an entire table of property features with the requirement to feed the dinosaur before proceeding. And while the website did append lots of “extra” information about the neighborhood, schools and local market below further down the page, it begged the question of who reads that stuff after being scared away by the registration-osaurus?

Did I register? Did I call? Did I send an email? Of course not. I just did what any other modern consumer would do: I opened another browser window, went to REALTOR.COM, and copied the street address into their search box. Within seconds, I found the property (by matching the price), clicked, and here’s what I saw:

This is why I love REALTOR.COM, and so do most consumers. It shows me exactly what I want to see without any hassles. We can argue all day whether the site is fast, elegant, cluttered, whatever, but when it comes down to it, Gen X and Gen Y want the facts. Without hassles. They don’t engage websites that put barriers in their way. They simply go around. That’s how they were trained; it’s what they do.

Which proves the point that while new consumers are ready for the next generation housing industry, old habits die hard, even on the internet. There is still too much “Hey, buddy! You wanna buya watch?” thinking in the minds of real estate agents. Ironically, this “hide the information, make them register” thinking is also what’s responsible for the “Mickey Mouse” registrations at these websites. Any wonder why agents love to say that “internet leads” are bad?

In the final analysis, the existence of such websites proves another point for the future of real estate. Those companies who will attract the next generation consumers won’t be those who just have the right technology. It will be those that have the right thinking, as well.