InCom Tool for Real Estate Professionals to Display Home Sold and Historical Data

Ealier this month, the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) officially released the disputed real estate data, including sold real estate prices, to its members and allowed them to make the information public knowledge.

In 2011, the Competition Bureau, a federal watchdog designed to protect real estate consumers, sued the TREB. They argued that the TREB engaged in anti-competitive practices when it withheld important data information (e.g., sold prices, withdrawn offers, and expired listings). A 2016 ruling by the Competition Tribunal sided with the plaintiffs and ordered the TREB to release that information. However, the TREB fought the ruling and took their appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that the decision would infringe on privacy and copyright laws. 

Last month, the Supreme Court of Canada announced that it will not hear an appeal from the TREB. In making this decision, the Supreme Court ended a 7 year long legal battle over whether or not consumers have the right to access additional property listings information; other than the info that appears in the MLS listings.

Making historical home sales data visible to the public is beneficial for everyone. Consumers would be proactive in planning for a sale or purchase.  For example, having access to property market trends will afford buyers with the opportunity to set better offers. It would also equip realtors to elevate their level of service beyond just talking about past sales price, giving consumers a superior experience.

The Tool that Will Display Real Estate Sold Data on Your Website | InCom Web & e-Marketing Solutions

InCom Web & e-Marketing Solutions’ web design team is pleased to announce that it has developed a cutting-edge tool that will assist agents in displaying the recently released TREB sold data on their real estate websites through Virtual Office Website (VOW) subscriptions.

How the Tool Works

Part of the package real estate agents receive when signing up for a real estate website with InCom are IDX integration and VOW subscription. Both features allow our web design team to automatically upload all MLS listings onto your website and provide your customers with increased access to MLS information, such as withdrawn offers, sold data, and house history.

When entering your website, visitors are prompted to a sign up page that asks for their contact information in exchange for access to exclusive information (e.g., property history, sold, withdrawn, expired, suspended and disputed data). Once the user inputs their information, the website generates a personal account for them. The personal account is password protected and can only be accessed by the user who signed up for the account.

How the Tool Benefits Real Estate Professionals

This feature boasts incredible lead generation capabilities. The VOW subscription information that you display on your website is password protected. This means that users cannot access it without inputting their contact details first. Once inputted, the contact information can easily be used to nurture leads into sales via cold calls, email marketing blasts, and other sales initiatives. As well, the tool equips realtors with the ability to track the lead’s user history, saved searches, properties of interest and other valuable insight that will help you better understand consumers’ needs and habits.