Imagine that you are one of the four out of five homebuyers fishing among listings online. An email alert arrives in your inbox that tells you that one of the homes you like has just had a price reduction.

Reel it in, because you've just made the catch of the day.

That's why Realtor.com is campaigning to get each of 900 MLS organizations to make listings more current. The company is making a tedious door-to-door request of MLS executives to allow the aggregator to update listing data every 15 minutes.

To date, one-third of Realtor.com's listings are refreshed four times an hour. How soon the rest of the listings update is a matter of politics and money.

The NAR has had the RETS data-sharing standard in place for years, but not every MLS uses it. The ones that use it are more able to refresh listings more often. Currently, most listings are updated for changes only once a day or less, and some as infrequently as once every two weeks, mostly due to outdated software or minimal staffing.

It's more trouble to update listings this frequently, admits Realtor.com, but the goal is to keep a sharp edge for Realtors.

Explains Errol Samuelson, president of Realtor.com, "On average about 13,600 homes are sold in America every day and roughly the same number go up for sale on the nation’s 900 multiple listing services. Tens of thousands more listings have price changes or updated information that could change the property’s appeal to prospective buyers."

As real estate web sites become increasingly sophisticated with search and analysis tools, providing fresh data is more important than ever.

To make its aggregated listings stand out from competitors that publish homes for sale from newspapers, magazines, FSBOs and other real estate sites, Realtor.com is going to start putting a time stamp on all listings that show exactly when they were last updated.

This is smart thinking for Realtor.com because studies show (eVOC August 2007) that despite Realtor.com's status as number one home search for buyers, only six percent of home buyers use only one home shopping site. Twenty-eight percent visit three sites, and a whopping 21 percent visit seven or more.

Published: April 28, 2008

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.