Categories: Real Estate

Online Real Estate Brokerage

There is a discussion about looking for properties online. For me my first experience was in about 2000. That seems like a long time ago.

The Multiple Listing Service stored data in a central location. The company that handled the data for the Northwest Multiple Listing Service was called Moore Data. I bought a software program from them to do Comparative Market Analysis. It worked great. It made a nice presentation at a time before it became a common tool.

With the program I was also able to share information with other people on line, through e-mails. The e-mail system quickly became a common Real Estate practice. The Real Estate agent would e-mail clients a list of properties. Soon after our Multiple Listing Service began offering an online version of the data base Real Estate agents use.

John L Scott was the first Brokerage that I recall who invested in the technology of online searches in conjunction with Microsoft. Windermere seemed to be dragging their feet. Coldwell banker made the most significant strides nationally.

Then a company called Zillow began the ambitious project of a national data base for Real Estate. Governments had converted sales data to an online system from microfiche. It opened up a whole new world of analysis of tax data.

The next question is, if all of this information was available how did Real Estate prices get so high?

Jeff Jacobs

Having lived in the Pacific Northwest his entire life, Jeff understands and delivers a different perspective about politics. Even though many may disagree with his language and writing style, you can't debate his passion for the Seattle area and his committment to a better society.