Walt Baczkowski thinks real estate listing syndication has jumped the shark. But the CEO of the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® (SFAR) has already figured out how to bring happy days back again. In recent months, sentiment surrounding consumer-facing real estate syndicators like Zillow and Trulia has shifted. REALTORS® and Multiple Listing Services have expressed concern about the practice of “scraping” exercised by some listing aggregators, which entails reusing listing data without permission from the broker or agent representing the property. Another concern is the ability for a prospective buyer to easily reach out and contact the listing broker/agent, whose status as the primary contact for the property listed isn’t always clear. Many real estate professionals are realizing that more control over their listing information is preferred, instead of reckless syndication that may produce no real results. “It jumped the shark because it became a detriment to the REALTORS® when they lost control,” Baczkowski explained. “Their pictures weren’t even appearing next to their listings. And then people were taking their listings, and doing things with them. It started out being this great benefit, but it suddenly turned into a negative. Now, it’s time to take back control of the data.” For SFAR, that meant setting up a consumer-facing real estate search portal site, developed by Point2. Consumers can search for homes and businesses for sale and rent, with all the data sourced directly from the San Francisco Multiple Listings Service website. If updates are made by a broker or agent to the listing – like a pending sale – the consumer site will also be updated in near real-time. In a city with a residential real estate market so hot that there are only 900 active listings, on average, of homes for sale, the timeliness of...