True Gotham

The lack of an MLS (multiple listing service) in Manhattan has been the source of heated debate for years.  It continues to be a major topic of conversation as more and more websites pop-up both locally and nationally that aggregate listings information from multiple if not all databases.  

Until recently, if a buyer was interested in searching for a new home in Manhattan, they were forced to peruse a plethora of individual real estate broker web sites or they could turn to The New York Times on line as the best aggregator of property listings.  

Well those days are long gone as sites like Property Shark and StreetEasy have really taken hold in the Manhattan real estate market.  No longer can the brokerage community hold information hostage and since all co-op sales are being recorded now (back to June 2003), many of these sites provide tools that allow the consumer to do their own market analysis of property values including the search of sales history in and around specific addresses, as well as building and neighborhood information.

So if you are a buyer in today's real estate market, stop the madness of searching individual broker websites for property as none of those individual sites can provide a complete database of available property.  At best you will see less than 50% of what is currently available.  Spend your valuable time more efficiently and take your pick of StreetEasy or PropertyShark as your one stop shop for all Manhattan listings data.  The sites are so complete at this time that many agents and brokers choose them over their own internal listings systems.

Today's consumer has gravitated to the Internet in earnest to begin searching for a new home.

And while in the outer boroughs of NYC broker associations have Multiple Listing Services, they haven't lived up to their potential http://mybrooklynreport.com/2009/05/29/is-this-the-death-of-mls/.

In addition, while I agree that consumers are better served accessing property listings from all real estate brokers as provided by a listing aggregator, SreetEasy.com and Propertyshark.com are not in the business of providing customer service.

I think the opportunity that most brokers in NYC miss over and over again is designing a web site that improves the customer service experience and tones down the heavy marketing messages.

Emphasis on Buyer customer service insures repeat business and a client for life when it is time to sell.

I would agree with you that brokers need to really focus more on the customer service experience but i would disagree that PropertyShark and StreetEasy are customer service driven. The consumer is their target and the tools they provide are a much greater service to the end user than any broker site I have seen.

Doug, I remember you pointing out that streeteasy was a bit slow to update inaccurate data especially price changes.

My experience with streeteasy, is half and half, while I no longer need to browse the major halstead, elliman, corcoran websites and can get listings from others there are still many other listings that are not listed at streeteasy.

Streeteasy's interface is too simple at times and needs updating, and they confuse buyers at times. Why can't I search for both condos and condops, why are there "houses", "townhouses" and multifamily listings.

Granted , there are differences in these types of properties, however mls doesn't sort them out, they may group multi-family listings as townhouses , or townhouses as houses, especially if a house has more than one unit.

I also find that MLS provides more listings than streeteasy covers by far, and there are many listings out there on rebny that I have looked at that could never have picked up by streeteasy.

Because of this and the fact that streeteasy and property shark want you to "pay" for information that is often freely available via public records such as ACRIS , I respectfully disagree with your recommendation that PropertyShark and StreetEasy are customer service driven and they provide the necessary tools,

A great concept indeed, but it seems to have a lot of flaws and they want people to pay for free information.
Would love a response.

Thanks for commenting Michelle. There is NO MLS in Manhattan and to suggest that StreetEasy and Property Shark aren't customer service focused because they charge for their service is just plain silly. Should they not be allowed to provide an easy to navigate body of data for the consumer? I have used ACRIS and I promise you that both StreetEasy and PropertyShark are more easy to navigate and understand. You should consider emailing them with your comments and I would bet they will take them under advisement.

I definitely had and still do have some criticisms of these sites but they are the best out there thus far at aggregating all of the city's listings. They make searching for property in Manhattan a much easier process than it has been in the past...and for that they should be allowed to profit.

I think there is a Multiple Listing Service in Manhattan.

http://newyork-mls.net/index2.htm

I hope this helps direct readers to this service.

Hi

Left the wrong URL for Manhattan Multiple Listing service. Here is the correct one:

http://www.mlsmanhattan.com/mls_manhattan/

Unfortunately Michael this is far from an MLS. This site was built by the Manhattan Association of Realtors which excludes a number of the larger firms and therefore the market share of properties in the city. StreetEasy and propertyShark are still the best aggregators of complete info thus far.