Real Estate Listings Comments

Get Your Website Fattened Up

On over at the Zip Realty blog they mentioned their new commentary system whereby their viewer can comment on a house.

Some of the commentary that the post mentions went as so:

“Not a very clean home!  Maybe the realtor should get a dictionary, as he can't spell!”...“are the drug users who drink in this bar included in the price” .....“Wow! what idiot would buy this at this price???”...“This listing is a joke, right?”...“The photos listed on this donot(sic) show anything of the CONDIMium(sic), just the TREES and PLANTS looks like a JUNGLE HOME Advertisment(sic)   for Tarzan and Jane”...“…Unless you want to pay for his retirement, otherwise, "lowball" him an offer or move on to other house…”....“There has(sic) been 2 deaths in this home.”

Commentary has been the rage ever since the notion of "thin" pages was bantered about in the online marketing world. A thin page or site is basically a static non changing page/site.

As an example when I post this article you are reading here, someone might post a comment. That comment adds to the content of this post. Then, maybe three days later the page changes again as someone else comments to the post.

The page is fattening up with richer and richer content as the commentary adds to the texture of the original post.

Same idea with Amazon's customer commentary, and sites like Ecommerce and Travel sites where you can add your take on the subject.

This is what Web 2.0 is supposed to be all about. Consumer generated content.

Hmmm. That is where practicality and an few programmers pipe dream diverge. Because, many consumers are just plain stupid! As Mr. Forrest Gump said, "stupid is what stupid does."

Stupid comments=stupid page? Do you want that crap on your listings page? Do you want your client seeing that crap about their home on anyones listings page?

But the real issue I see is two fold:

1. Digital Graffiti-Kids and just stupid people using your resources to ruin your page. I guess you can monitor that like you do spam on a blog.
2. Liability-I am not sure if I want to run the engine that generates the poor disparaging commentary on a home. The idea is to sell it. Not leave it up for a vote of people that have nothing better to do, but write commentary about home listings. The only vote that matters is the ballot called the Offer Form.Man I can just imagine the next pet project in law offices across the country.