ICIWorld Global Real Estate Networking Since 1994.

Response to Sushil Mishra’s Review of ICIWorld

Thank you, Sushil, for taking the time to review ICIWorld.

Your article raises important questions. However, it is also written from the perspective of a
GTA residential resale specialist who has never used ICIWorld and does not work in commercial real estate on a daily basis.

Also, it looks like you used AI. Interesting, because at the top of this page, I also included an AI response as one of our items. 

ICIWorld is primarily a commercial and investment Information Listing Service (ILS), used by commercial brokers, mixed-use agents, and residential agents who handle investors, businesses, and exclusive opportunities that cannot go on MLS.

The vision is to have it run alongside MLS as an ILS service. Thirty-one years in the making. There are different strategies at play here that you will discover over time. It is not meant to duplicate any MLS service, Loopnet, CoStar, BrokerPocket or any of the services that you have mentioned. It is box-busting, as significant as the invention of MLS itself. And if we could simplify it as one member broker of record says “it is like a Kijiji for real estate brokers,” like real estate classified ads in a newspaper that runs from individual real estate broker and salesperson websites. If 100,000 real estate agents in Ontario all had it on their websites, could we assume that real estate brokers and salespeople could represent most buyers on it? You have something for sale, call the broker with the buyer and show it and conduct a potential sale. Trigger a lead? Do a referral. If it is a commercial inquiry, do a referral to the commercial broker who placed it; they will love it, and you make money whether you are part-time, full-time, residential, or retiring, full-time, etc. It allows you to have the opportunity to make money with every person you speak to for the rest of your life. 

1. Is ICIWorld Really Delivering Business Value?

The short answer: Yes, and it has for decades.

We don’t just “claim” value; we document it. ICIWorld publishes:

• Over $1 Billion in sales reported by members that started with ICIWorld connections.
• Yet there was no mention of this in the article. It is one thing to quote traffic lets say to your own website, but are you doing transactions? 
• Named testimonials from Ontario and Canadian REALTORS® who have completed deals and earned commissions specifically from ICIWorld leads.
• Examples of sales including apartment buildings, plazas, medical/dental practices, development land, and businesses.

These are third-party results from your fellow REALTORS® – not marketing claims.

2. The “Have and Want” System – More Than “On Paper”

You correctly describe the basics:

• Haves – properties or businesses available to sell or lease.
• Wants – what buyers and investors are looking for.

Where your review underplays things is the purpose of that system. ICIWorld is designed to:

• Handle exclusive and confidential opportunities that cannot be fully exposed on MLS. That are not on Loopnet, CoStar, BrokerPocket and other services in such a global database that can literally be searching within a minute to find a buyer or seller for virtually every kind of property or business you can think of. And available from each individual website of a member!
• Capture opportunities that exist as a conversation or thought before a signed listing (owner says: “Yes, I would sell if you bring a buyer”).
• Provide a global matchmaking engine for off-market, investment, and special-use properties.

It is not a replacement for MLS; it is an Information Listing Service (ILS) that works alongside MLS. All these other services should have us running as a separate service alongside their service. That way they would have any and all signed listings such as on MLS AND all the opportunities not on MLS. 

3. Exclusive, Assignment & Confidential Listings

You say that simply posting exclusive or assignment listings does not guarantee buyers. We agree.

No platform can guarantee a sale just because something is posted – not MLS, not CoStar, not Broker Pocket, not anyone.

I say what about this situation of one member told me. He asked his dentist would he consider selling? Dentist said “as a matter of fact we have it for sale not listed for $1.8M.” Our member searched on ICIWorld and within 10 seconds found a brokers working with buyers for dentail offices. Showed it, within three days sold it. Each broker made a substantial amount of money. NOBODY GUARANTEES ANYTHING THAT A BUYER WILL BUY OR SELLER WILL SELL. You have to try and that is what real estate broekrs and salespeople do. But I know one thing, if you do not try, and you only work on MLS listings only, or just one other service, yes you can make money, we never said you can’t. We say include all the services. Just include ICIWor.ld or yes you can be missing out.

What ICIWorld does is:

• Give REALTORS® a legal and RECO-compliant method to expose opportunities that cannot go on MLS.
• Provide a central place where those opportunities are visible to trained professionals who actually have buyers.
• Support members with training on confidentiality, written consent, NDAs, and how to move from “information” to a signed listing and ultimately a sale.

Many of the transactions reported in our testimonials started exactly that way:
a conversation → a Have/Want on ICIWorld → a connection → listing paperwork → closed deal.

4. “Buyer Traffic Problem”: Mostly Agents, Not Buyers?

You write that most ICIWorld users are agents, not buyers, and that institutional buyers rarely search ICIWorld directly.

That is largely true – and intentional.

• In commercial real estate, serious buyers and institutional investors work through brokers, not random web searches.
• ICIWorld is an association of brokers and salespeople sharing Haves and Wants. It is a professional network, not a consumer portal like Realtor.ca.
• Buyers see ICIWorld content in two ways:
  • Directly (public-facing parts of the database and app).
  • Indirectly, via IDX links on member websites, where the buyer never leaves the agent’s own site.

So yes, we are broker-heavy by design. That is a feature in commercial practice, not a flaw.

5. “Outdated Technology” vs. Purpose-Built Tools

You compare ICIWorld to modern platforms with AI-powered matching, built-in CRM, and automation.

Our position:

• ICIWorld is not trying to be a CRM or marketing automation platform. Excellent CRMs already exist, and we encourage every agent to have one.
• Our role is to be the global Haves & Wants clearinghouse – a fast, searchable information marketplace that no CRM replaces.
• Our searches are designed to return results in 3–10 seconds, so you can instantly see what 1,000+ people are working on – like walking into a networking event and reading everyone’s name tag.
• Agents are free to plug ICIWorld leads into any CRM they choose. We integrate with, not replace, your tech stack.

We are evaluating AI and automation carefully so that they support brokers and protect the public, not replace professional judgment.

6. Data Verification & Trust

You raise a concern that ICIWorld listings are self-reported and that rent rolls, NOI, and financials are not verified.

Important distinctions:

• ICIWorld is an Information Listing Service (ILS), not an MLS. MLS systems themselves rely primarily on broker-entered data with legal disclaimers.
• Verification in commercial real estate is done in due diligence – by brokers, lawyers, accountants, appraisers, and inspectors – not by the database.
• Database 1 is for licensed real estate brokers and salespeople. They are already bound by RECO, CREA, and board rules and codes of ethics.
• For many confidential deals, detailed financials are not published online at all. They are shared privately after NDAs and buyer qualification – standard commercial practice.

Expecting ICIWorld to “verify” all financials would be like expecting MLS, CoStar, or a real estate board to audit every number. That is simply not how the industry works.

7. SEO Visibility

You note that broad Google searches like “commercial real estate Toronto” don’t show ICIWorld at the very top.

That’s fair. Our focus is not to win every generic keyword against national brands with massive SEO budgets.

Instead, we focus on:

• Long-tail and niche discovery.
• Content on member websites via ICIWorld IDX feeds.
• Direct channels such as email digests, apps, and webinars.

The biggest deals rarely come from someone randomly typing a generic keyword into Google. They come from targeted network connections between serious brokers and investors – and that is exactly where ICIWorld shines.

8. Duplicate Listings

You mention that some ICIWorld listings are duplicates of MLS, brokerage lists, or private groups.

This is normal in real estate:

• A listing may appear on MLS, a franchise site, an agent’s website, social media, email blasts – and on ICIWorld. That is called marketing.
• One broker had a $4M plaza on TREB and received 4 calls. The same opportunity on ICIWorld generated 32 calls and sold. The duplication was not a problem – it was the solution.
• Many ICIWorld opportunities are not duplicated anywhere else: these are pre-MLS, off-market, or confidential properties and businesses.

So yes, some duplication exists, but there is also a large amount of truly unique inventory that other platforms never see.

9. Cost vs. Benefit (ROI)

You question whether ICIWorld’s membership is worth the cost if traffic is perceived as low.

In commercial practice, the math is simple:

• If a member pays the annual fee and closes just one extra deal or referral per year connected to ICIWorld, the return on investment is often hundreds or thousands of percent.
• Our testimonials show commissions of $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, $50,000+ directly attributable to ICIWorld leads.
• We also provide training, webinars, and IDX tools, and we offer ways to effectively make membership “free” through savings and referrals.

For the agents in our testimonials, ICIWorld has more than justified its cost.

10. “Limited Use” – A Much Bigger Scope

You suggest ICIWorld may have limited use for:

• Small town plazas, gas stations, motels, farmland.
• Entry-level commercial agents experimenting with networking.
• Agents who have built personal networks inside ICIWorld.

We agree with those – but the scope is much larger:

• Apartment buildings and multi-residential portfolios.
• Office and industrial properties.
• Retail plazas and strip centres.
• Development land and infill sites.
• Professional practices and specialized businesses.

ICIWorld is not just for “small town” or “entry-level” commercial. It is used by CCIMs, experienced commercial brokers, and serious investors as well.

11. Your Checklist – Our Answers

Q: Are your buyers actively searching ICIWorld?

We recommend: No – send them to your own website where ICIWorld content is displayed via IDX, and you get the leads.

Q: Can you generate actual buyer leads, or just agent contacts?

Our testimonials show both. There are public leads and powerful agent-to-agent connections that result in deals.

Q: Are commercial investors asking you about ICIWorld?

Some do. More importantly, investors ask their brokers to “find X,” and brokers quietly use ICIWorld as one of their sourcing tools. In some cases, owners have insisted that their property be marketed on ICIWorld.

Q: Does it provide verified data for negotiations?

No – and it is not designed to. Verification is due diligence, done by professionals (brokers, lawyers, accountants, appraisers). ICIWorld’s role is to help you discover opportunities and make connections.

12. Final Thoughts & Invitation

MLS, Realtor.ca, Broker Pocket, CoStar, LoopNet and others all provide value. ICIWorld is not here to replace them.

ICIWorld’s role is to be the global ILS – Information Listing Service:

• For opportunities that cannot be fully marketed on MLS.
• For pre-listing and off-market opportunities that begin as a thought or conversation.
• For brokers and salespeople who want to match buyers and sellers locally and globally in ways that MLS alone cannot.

I respectfully invite you, Sushil, and any REALTOR® reading this, to:

• Speak with our members who have closed deals through ICIWorld.
• Review the testimonials and case studies.
• Book a short Zoom session and see, in real time, how the system can complement MLS and your existing tools.

Used properly, ICIWorld is not just “hype.” It is an additional, proven channel for real estate opportunities that are not on MLS – and that can mean the next extra deal or referral for your business.

I also note: