It’s Official: DMN Announces Sawbuck/A.H. Belo Internet Real Estate Partnership
The Dallas Morning News announced this morning what we’ve been reporting for days:
A.H. Belo Corporation, publisher of The Dallas Morning News, is investing in Sawbuck Realty, an online real estate broker that will bring its services this year into A.H. Belo’s territories in Southern California, Rhode Island and North Texas.
Sawbuck is expected to announce today that A.H. Belo has joined Sawbuck’s two co-founders, Guy Wolcott and Steve Barnes, in a $2 million round of investment in the young company. The individual contributions were not disclosed.
I’m in a conference call with A.H. Belo and Sawbuck Realty right now. As soon as it’s done we’ll get you audio from that call. Until then, jump for the interesting part of the DMN story:
As a real estate broker, Sawbuck will be able to list all Multiple Listing Service properties, [Chewy] Redding said. At present, visitors who go to dallasnews.com may see only 70 to 80 percent of the listings, he said.
He described the reaction from Dallas-Fort Worth area brokers briefed on the new arrangements as mixed.
Sawbuck refers any sales leads to agents or brokers locally in exchange for a 30 percent share of the commission. The Dallas Morning News will not share directly in that commission, although it would benefit indirectly from its investment in Sawbuck, Redding said.
The News will continue to sell advertising to local brokers and agents who want to enhance their listings with logos and contact information. In those cases, customers would contact that agent or broker directly, and Sawbuck would be bypassed.
“Our advertisers won’t see a lot of change when Sawbuck is on our site,” Redding said.
David R. Ellett, A.H. Belo senior vice president and president and general manager of Belo Interactive Media, said A.H. Belo’s investment is not huge, “but I think it is a strong signal that we believe that this is an enhancement to the real estate solution we bring to the market.”
In addition to search and referral, Sawbuck also touts lower mortgage rates and closing fees as part of its package of services.
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Candy is full of it. They will get a feed just like evryone else that has a rapatonni IDX link or the raw data feed through NTREIS. You will get limited information, just like you are sending out a customer report through NTREIS. Nice try Candy, go try and pull the wool over some other realtors.
It’s ironic though how the DMN would create a road block for buyers/sellers to reach us when it is our advertising dollars that have helped keep the newspaper going. Even if they do just post a feed that provides limited information (which I’m sure is what will happen) it still is a little slap in the face to their clients (advertisers) because they are possibly digging further into our pocket book. My two pennies…
I also agree !!! Candy is wrong more times than she is right….
Please do not waste our time Candy on reporting( oohh let me correct myself, you are not a reporter, just a sorry ass blogger) information that is so very inaccurate…
Great, now we’ll lose the ability to comment on this part of “D” too. So where is a good place that you can get info on the metroplex and also comment…?
Yes, DMN is setting up a feed just like everyone else, except they are having all leads come directly to them, then they call the first agent they can find, I mean an agent that specializes in that neighborhood, and expect a 30% referral fee for doing that. Go read their website and see what they have to say about Realtors, they make them sound like common criminals. And the DMN is doing this because they are mad that the Real Estate industry has finally realized newspaper advertising, like newspapers in general, is ineffective and a dying medium, so they are doing this to get back at them and further line their own pockets.
Huh? Who are you people that can’t even read? Candy inserted a PRESS RELEASE from DMN – and didn’t even make any editorial comment whatsoever!
Exactly how is she “wrong” or “full or it”? Sheesh! Use your brain before you start posting a bunch of stupid comments. I thought the EMS trolls were dead and gone off this board!
Just read the official release and this jumped out:
“The News will continue to sell advertising to local brokers and agents who want to enhance their listings with logos and contact information. In those cases, customers would contact that agent or broker directly, and Sawbuck would be bypassed.”
So basically, Sawbuck uses Belo to get the word out about their site and direct traffic and Belo tells their Real Estate Advertisers that if they pay them enough money, they’ll give them the leads. If not, Sawbuck gets them and then expects a 30% referral. Sounds like Belo wants to have their cake and eat it to.
Josh and Fay…you are obviously realtors. You are obviously aggrieved by Belo’s move as it is yet another chink in the ridiculous fee structure/lack of transparency that has existed in the largest investment market for individuals in the country…housing. Get used to it, transparency is coming to your heretofore protected fiefdom. Why on earth are you attacking Candy (whom I’ve never met) for merely reporting the facts. I see no editorial opinion here, merely the facts. Refute if I’ve overlooked as much. You come across as two spoiled and angry brats. Sorry.
Not to rain on this parade or anything, but this is my post not Candy’s. So if there is any vitriol that needs to be directed at someone, direct it at me.
I’m not involved in the real estate industry, but there’s some business dynamics I don’t understand here.
It’s questionable if this new business enterprise is going to be lucrative in Riverside, California and in the state of Rhode Island? These two area have been plagued with falling real estate prices and very high unemployment rates.
The WSJ said the other day that real estate prices had fallen 50 percent in the Riverside area. As I recall, Dallas real estate prices had fallen only 9 percent. No other major city could match that modest percentage.
Apparently the Dallas area is the best major real estate market in the country, so I think this new enterprise should focus their attention there. At least initially. Roll the dice in the best real estate market. Not the worst real estate markets.
The marriage between A.H. Belo and Sawbuck is an interesting one. Sawbuck’s concept itself is great, but it is not ground breaking to the industry. I’m actually quite surprised that Belo took the bait when Sawbuck will just be acting as a referral company, which in my opinion will only give leads to the “best agents or teams” that are willing to pay an upfront fee to be part of their referral database. Referring the lead is easy, however, the biggest question I have is, how would they track which lead closed and which one didn’t in order to get their 30% referral fee? Unless they have developed a flawless system or they act as an intermediary to the transaction, it is almost impossible.