Eh....Loopnet

I think Loopnet is about to come undone pretty soon. I had been a premium member for nearly four years and I (like the majority of other brokers I know) dropped their paid memberships without a thought after Loopnet raised their fees through the roof in 2009. I started out at $59 per month back in late 2005. In 2006, membership fees went up to $69 per month. In 2007, it was $89 per month. In late 2007, I got a notice that 2008 premium membership was going to cost a whopping $129 per month. When I got my notice in October of last year that the 2009 fees were increasing nearly 80% to an astounding $230 per month for 30 listings (I currently have 30+), it was time to cut the cord and go back to lowly basic membership. In a declining market with fewer dollars for brokers to spread around, one has to wonder what these guys are thinking.

Maybe this is why, as of July, their paid membership is down nearly 20% vs 2Q 2008. I think you're going to see some significant declines in their paid membership by the time 09 3Q (due 10/26/09) and 4Q results are released. I don't know a single active broker who has agreed to pay these new fees. Loopnet's telemarketers started calling me around May of this year asking why I left. I'm not shy, so I let them know. I've stopped returning their calls since.

In retrospect, I cannot find one single lease or sale that has occurred as a result of my listings being on Loopnet. Before I terminated my premium membership, I surveyed all my previous deals over a 36 month period, and found nearly every single sale or lease came from one of two sources: the local MLS (Catylist) or a sign in front of the property. None came from Loopnet. That's why, unless they drop their fees significantly, there's little chance I'll go back to being a premium member. The review portion of Loopnet is not well policed, either. I've seen residential agents place items such as beach home and single family residental lot listings on Loopnet in the past - something I don't encounter with Catylist. Also, Loopnet severely restricts a broker's ability to send out prospect blast alerts when there are significant changes in a property's status - a feature Catylist allows. If history is any guide, being on Loopnet is strictly an academic affair, and any academic affair is certainly not worth $230 or even $130 per month to me.

The real irony about all of this is, if you're a basic member, you're only able to see 10% of Loopnet listing inventory during a search. Eventually it will get to the point where most casual searchers won't be able see much of anything at all because the majority of their users will be basic members. Because of this (and the constant nag screens advising you your search is "restricted"), I've stopped using Loopnet as a search tool entirely - it's basically impractical to me as a broker. I still enter all my listings into Loopnet, but I'm not holding my breath that I'll end up doing any business as a result of this. It's really a shame because Loopnet used to be a good listing search tool for brokers.