When Shoppers Disappear: A Little Kmart Déjà Vu
I’ll never forget one For-Sale-By-Owner appointment years ago. The seller looked me in the eye and said, “Steve, I just want someone who can actually get my house in front of real buyers — not just the MLS and the usual stuff.”
Back then I hadn’t yet discovered what a Homes.com Professional account could do.
Fast-forward to yesterday.
I pulled the numbers on one of our brand-new listings (live on the MLS since 11/25/2025). Same listing. Same 11 days. Screenshots taken at the exact same second on 12/6/2025.
Zillow.com → 262 views (random “referred” agent)
Homes.com → 15,990 views (listing agent correctly shown)
Oh… and Zillow will not display the Matterport 3D Virtual tour.
Let that sink in for a second.
Katrina and I used to love our local Kmart — Christmas shopping, blue-light specials, the whole nostalgic deal. But little by little, Kmart made choices that pushed shoppers to places that simply worked better (Walmart, Target, Meijer). We watched the shelves get emptier, the parking lot quieter, and eventually the lights went out for good.
I’m starting to feel the same quiet fade with Zillow.
When a portal that once dominated the market now delivers 1/60th of the exposure of its sharper competitor… well, sellers notice. Buyers notice. And smart brokerages notice.
At Slice of Florida Realty we’re choosing the platforms that are winning today — the ones that proudly show your listing agent, display every photo and 3D tour, and put your home in front of tens of thousands of ready eyes instead of a couple hundred.
If you’re thinking about selling in 2026 and want your home on the “new supercenter” of real estate portals instead of the one with the flickering sign, let’s talk.
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Steve Martin Smith is the Broker/Owner of Slice of Florida Realty and Host of the globally downloaded Real Estate Agent Man Podcast
(941) 894-9800
