Real Estate info war: Rogers enters the scene

On Saturday we talked about realtors who are stepping up to the plate to provide information to potential buyers of real estate from the restricted (yet massive) data based held by the various real estate boards.

This comes after we talked about an example of that secret information which was released (and subsequently removed) on a local real estate discussion board.

Access to that sort of secret information has been a topic of considerable tension over the past few years as realtors and real estate associations have fought hard to maintain their almost exclusive access to the rich Multiple Listing Service data.

That battle even found it's way to Ottawa’s Competition Bureau.

And when the real estate associations reached an agreement with the Competition Bureau, the end result did not give the public direct access to the MLS or REALTOR.ca systems. But it did open up the possibility for change.

Industry watchers have long yearned for a competitor to appear in Canada like Zillow has in the United States. Zillow provides a massive amount of information to the American public. Info which, in Canada, is kept under wraps by the real estate associations.

But now that Canadian competitor may be on the horizon as Roger's has just announced it plans on entering the real estate business:

Rogers Communications is expanding into the real estate business.

The mobile and cable giant has applied to become a licensed real estate brokerage right across Canada and is aiming to relaunch its five-year-old website Zoocasa.com in May as a unique, one-stop-shopping site for homebuyers.

It’s aimed at going far beyond U.S.-based property listing services such as Zillow and Trulia which have revolutionized house hunting south of the border by providing critical data that can help potential buyers assess the value of a property from the comfort of their home computer.

While those sites link to licensed realtors who buy spots on the sites, Rogers intends to go a big step beyond that: Zoocasa will make sure its online directory of agents are vetted, knowledgeable realtors with a proven track record of making sales and providing superior customer service, said Zoocasa president Carolyn Beatty.

Beatty stressed the new site isn’t meant to cut realtors out of the home-buying equation but, instead, ensure that consumers now looking for houses online can go the next step digitally as well, finding a realtor they can check out through the site and feel they can trust to finish the deal.

Information.

Buyers will flock to wherever they can access the most information in the easiest way possible.

As we saw in the real estate board screenshots that were the subject of last week's controversy, the cabel has a massive, accessible database already in place.  Much of that information is restricted in a vain attempt to protect the integrity of the frankenumber HPI.

The question now is can the real estate boards move quickly enough to establish themselves as the "go-to" source of information by the average Canadian looking for critical data from the comfort of their home computer.

They have the leg up, but will they change their secretive ways fast enough?

It's going to be an interesting time as this story plays out in the months ahead.

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