ICIWorld’s Response to Sushil Mishra’s Review
POINT – COUNTER POINT
Thank you, Sushil, for taking the time to write a review of ICIWorld. Your article raises important questions. However, it is written from the viewpoint of a residential resale specialist who does not work daily with exclusive, confidential, or investment-grade real estate. So we agree on some items and disagree on others.
Keep in mind we have fifty-two years of experience in real estate, developing this service for thirty-two years with the input and experience of real estate brokers and salespeople totalling thousands and thousands of hours of input. We suspect you have little to none experience in real estate but write a review copied it appears from Ai but then not inputting the right questions to AI. This is our opinion and would love to sit down with you someday and have coffee together.
Here is a response that I requested from AI. See one of our Blogs Called Buyers For Dentail Clinics.
ICIWorld is a different category of service — an ILS: Information Listing Service — and it operates alongside MLS, not in competition with it. Below is our complete point-by-point response, written to help REALTORS® understand the purpose and proper use of the ICIWorld platform.
I use the analogy of cars and trucks where I liken the MLS to cars, and ICIWorld to trucks. They each serve a separate purpose. People can have both. In lthe information business if you can get a signed listilng, you put it on MLS. If you cannot get a signed listing you can put the information on ILS Information Listing Service as provided by ICIWorld as long as you do it in a confidential manner, we call it networking. When a person wants to see a property we put a listing agreement in place first before divulging the address or identifying the property. This follows the rules that all brokers and salespeople in the wold should follow. And we teach this in seminars and webinars.
1. Is ICIWorld Outdated?
Yes and No. Not for speed. Perhaps yes for design, which, as income changes, will be improved, as almost everything can be improved.
I know you feel that there are generally no pictures (in some cases, there are by design). In fact, ICIWorld operates on purpose-built technology that delivers results in 3–10 seconds and has produced over $1 Billion in verified sales through broker-to-broker and broker-to-buyer connections. And continues to do so to this day.
The 1-3-10-second speed for finding a buyer may someday be matched by another service, but ICIWorld, we suggest, is one of the fastest services in the world to find a list of buyers and a list of sellers not on MLS. That is not outdated. Perhaps we can accept some criticism of the website’s design, although it is very functional; we just did not have $20M to invest. We do not have marble floors and offices in high places. Instead, we wanted to bring the full powers of the Internet at as low a cost as humanly possible, and we have done it. Even Bill Gates, speaking with Warren Buffett, said the cost of reaching the world’s people in 189 countries is so low that it can be considered free. Compare ICIWorld at $30 per month, with member sales conducted worldwide, and it proves the point. Consider what all the other services charge. But in spite of this, the other services are good too, and if you can afford them and make money with them, you should be using them too. You just don’t exclude another service that can also generate revenue. You can have both. And most of the other services are MLS-type services that have a signed listing. ICIWorld specializes in helping to network information that is not on MLS, either because you cannot get a signed listing or because it is preferable to maintain confidentiality. That is why we have had some sales over 60% that were sold through members of ICIWorld, compared to all the other commercial brokers using the other services you mentioned. But you are not prevented from using both services.
This service is not designed to display full MLS-style listings with photos — because most opportunities are confidential, pre-MLS, exclusive, or assignment. Photos, addresses, and identifying information cannot be shown without written consent. This is standard commercial practice.
The ICIWorld platform serves a very different function than consumer-facing listing portals. Comparing the two is like comparing a private investment network to Realtor.ca — different tools for different purposes.
2. Business Value: Does ICIWorld Deliver Real Results?
Yes — and the evidence is public.
- Over $1 Billion in reported sales.
- Deals involving apartment buildings, plazas, land, retail, industrial, farms, businesses, medical/dental practices, and more.
- Hundreds of named testimonials from Ontario and Canadian REALTORS®.
The purpose of ICIWorld is not “website traffic.” It is connections that lead to transactions. Our member testimonials speak to that better than anything else.
All the services you mentioned help brokers do transactions. So does The ICIWorld Association of Real Estate Brokers and Salespeople so why not use both?
3. Understanding the Have & Want System
This system is not simply a bulletin board. It is a global matchmaking network for properties and buyers that cannot be fully exposed on MLS. All the services mentioned have signed listings. Sometimes you cannot get a signed listing, but the owner says, “They want to sell, bring me a buyer, and I will pay you a commission.” That eliminates MLS. Your hands are tied when it comes to finding a buyer on a global scale. Now, however, an ILS (information listing service) as provided by ICIWorld.com can provide global exposure and IDX links for brokers’ websites just like they have MLS. ILS as provided by ICIWorld. In my analogy, the cars are the MLS system, and the trucks are the ILS system. All the other services are the cars in my mind.
There is more choice for the public.
There is public protection because real estate brokers and salespeople are trained in consumer protection. People who, for one reason or another, choose confidentiality over the MLS system are forced to use social media, where there is a lot of fraud and unscrupulous behaviour. If brokers simply use an ILS service such as that provided by ICIWorld, they would get the exposure they desire without being vulnerable to the insecurity of using social media.
Unfortunately, CREA and NAR passed a rule that a signed residential listing, a repeat signed residential listing, or a home advertised publicly must be put on the MLS within 2 days of signing in Canada and 1 day in the USA. So a real estate broker or salesperson would have to put it on MLS, and then he could advertise on ICIWorld. This does not apply to commercial. There are also some exemptions such as a residential home in a commercial zone, income property treated as commercial, assignments and new homes. Check with your local real estate board and follow the rules. We recommend all members follow the rules and codes of conduct of their respective organizations and professional groups, ie, NAR, CREA, OREA, RECO, TRREB and professional groups such as CCIM, SIOR, CIPS, etc.
Our definition of exclusive is anything that is not on MLS, either because you cannot get a signed listing at the moment or because it is preferable for many legitimate reasons.
Haves = Opportunities to sell or lease. Whether they are listed or not. We call it networking information.
Wants = Buyers and investors actively searching.
Brokers post:
- Exclusive opportunities
- Confidential situations
- Assignments
- Pre-MLS conversations (“Yes, I’d sell if you bring a buyer”)
- MLS listings
These are often the most valuable transactions in commercial real estate, and they cannot be marketed publicly without written consent.
4. “Mostly Agents, Not Buyers?”
This is not true— see ICIWorld Database 2 FSBO (For Sale By Owner) area, where the public posts information for free, but only broker members have access to the contact information. But you can read the subject line.
In much the same way, computer technology companies provide MLS services for brokers to serve the public, ICIWorld provides ILS services for brokers to serve the public.
Serious buyers and institutions work through brokers. The public searches Database 1 where broker members place their information just like real estate classified ads in a newspaper. LIke a Kijiji for real estate brokers and salespeople. Buyers and sellers can contact the member brokers directly.
- ICIWorld is an association of real estate brokers and salespeople. The public portal is ICIWorld.com, and there are 300,000 places on the Internet that people can search.
- Member brokers and salespeople also have access to the database, so they can provide the information from their own websites.
- The public and professionals can also subscribe to receive a daily email of new listings that match their criteria.
- Consumers also access ICIWorld content through IDX links on REALTOR® websites. With over 3,000 brokers and salespeople providing access to traffic on each of their websites, in addition to everything we do with many websites, social media, emailing, and global servers, thousands of access points have been built on the internet since 1994, long before any other services were invented.
Buyers should search ICIWiorld.com and through their agent’s website.
5. Technology Comparison
ICIWorld is not a CRM, marketing platform, or consumer lead generator. True and false.
It is not a CRM in the traditional understanding. You do not send out newsletters to the database. But it is a marketing platform where you place information, which is distributed worldwide and available in a searchable internet database, 24/7, and has been in operation since 1994. The information serves as a lead generator when people search the main website, iciworld.com, see your information, call you and ask for showing. And it also provides incoming referrals from brokers whose websites display the integrated database. The way yuo have MLS displahing on your website you can have the IDX link of Exclusives displayed on your website.
It is:
- A global Information Listing Service (ILS) a networking service for brokers and salespeople to reach the world and vice versa.
- A clearinghouse for off-market and confidential opportunities
- A 3–10 second search engine for matching Haves & Wants
- A tool that integrates with any website an agent chooses
- AND A MAJOR LEAD GENERATION SOURCE FOR REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND SALESPEOPLE.
Its purpose is speed, simplicity, confidentiality, and reach, not flashy presentation.
6. Data Verification
ICIWorld does not verify financial statements, rent rolls, or NOIs — for the same reason MLS, CoStar, LoopNet, and brokerage websites do not verify them:
Verification happens in due diligence, not at the listing stage.
- MLS relies on broker-entered data.
- Commercial practice involves NDAs, financials, buyer qualification.
- Many details cannot legally be posted until a buyer is vetted.
Expecting ICIWorld to “verify” all data misunderstands how commercial real estate operates.
7. SEO and Visibility
ICIWorld is not trying to win every broad Google keyword against billion-dollar corporations.
instead we help brokers in their local market areas.
Our strategy focuses on:
- Long-tail discovery
- Mobile apps
- Email digests
- IDX links on 2,000+ REALTOR® websites
- Broker-to-broker networking
- Social Media
- Extensive EMail Global Services.
Major commercial deals rarely originate from Google searches. They begin with broker networks, and that is exactly where ICIWorld excels.
8. Duplicate Listings
Duplication is normal in real estate. In fact, it can be good marketing.
I personally have not seen them, but they could exist.
When taking a listing, most brokers will market in more than one place because the buyers are not just in one place.
A $4M plaza once posted on TREB generated four calls. The identical information on ICIWorld produced thirty-two calls and sold.
More exposure = more calls = more opportunities.
9. Cost vs. ROI
The economics are simple:
- One extra deal or referral can generate $10,000–$50,000+.
- Transactions on ICIWorld help members make tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even $ 100,000, $200,000, and $300,000; indeed, brokers report making over $1 million from connections made through ICIWorld. See testimonials.
- Membership is a fraction of that. If someone joins for $480 and makes $50,000, you figure the ROI. And we supply a VIP Corporate Discount Card that lets you save $500 throughout the year, making your membership free even before you make any money.
- ICIWorld includes IDX tools, training, and global reach.
- There are four ways to effectively make the service free (VIP Card, referrals, etc.).
For the vast majority of members who use the system properly, the ROI is exceptional.
10. Scope of the Platform
ICIWorld is not limited to small plazas or entry-level commercial listings. It serves:
- Apartment buildings & portfolios
- Industrial & office
- Retail plazas
- Development land
- Professional practices
- Businesses of every type
CCIMs, commercial veterans, and major investors use ICIWorld daily.
11. Your Checklist—Our Answers
Are buyers searching ICIWorld?
Send buyers to your own website where ICIWorld content appears via IDX.
Can you generate real buyer leads?
Yes. Both public leads and powerful agent-to-agent connections.
Do investors ask about ICIWorld?
Many do. More importantly, their brokers use it quietly to source opportunities.
Does ICIWorld verify financial data?
No — because verification is part of due diligence, not listing.
12. Final Thoughts
MLS, CoStar, LoopNet, Broker Pocket, and others all have value. ICIWorld is not trying to replace them.
It exists to handle the large category of opportunities that MLS was never designed to handle:
- Confidential
- Exclusive
- Pre-MLS
- Assignment
- Off-market
- “I would sell if you bring a buyer”
ICIWorld is the global ILS — an essential complement to MLS and a proven source of income for REALTORS® who use it correctly.