Some listings are for properties that have already sold and were brokered by other firms
Nest Seekers International has been falsely claiming exclusivity on a number of listings in Miami, and in some cases feeding that information to Zillow and Realtor.com, an investigation by The Real Deal reveals.
The New York-based brokerage, led by founder and CEO Eddie Shapiro, has a number of listings on its website that are labeled “exclusive,” which state that “This is a Nest Seekers Exclusive Listing.” However, in many cases, the listings belong to another brokerage, have already been sold, or have not been listed by the developer.
The Nest Seekers information is sometimes also posted on Zillow.com, Realtor.com and other websites for the public to see. That means potential buyers are presented with the wrong contact information for a listing and oftentimes price.
“These people are creating a presence by misleading the public, pretending to be exclusive listing agents on listings that are not theirs, and somehow have a superseding feed agreement with Zillow and Realtor and other listings sites,” Miami real estate broker Cyril Bijaoui of WEA, who discovered the alleged fraud, told TRD.