Another Confused Trulia Buyer

I've made it a personal mission to put out the word about Zillow's misleading "Zestimates" and how they do a disservice to the buying public.  After all, is it just a coincidence that Zillow came into prominence in 2006, at the same time the real estate bubble began to burst?  Anyway, I digress.

Now another confused potential Sarasota area home buyer has apparently registered on Trulia for a user account, and gets updates on "new listings" from Trulia and their syndication partners like RealtyTrac.  View this buyer's confused plea for help on Trulia here:  http://bit.ly/JYxxT8

No wonder the public is confused.

Does anyone think it's a good business practice to entice mass numbers of prospective buyers and sellers with misleading "listings" that aren't actually available?  Is it good business practice to then sell those so-called "hot leads"to local Realtors, whose job it will be to explain how Trulia and Zillow don't provide MLS information?

Imagine how the conversation will go after you tell the sheepish buyer or seller: "I'm so sorry you fell for Trulia/Zillow's misleading marketing.  They don't really care about selling you a house or condo.  Their business plan is to get Realtors and related businesses to advertise on their site.  But since I paid to respond to your inquiry and hopefully get you as a client, I am here to rescue you with the truth."

Fellow Realtors, we need to seriously reassess our ties with Trulia and Zillow.

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