Members must learn to keep your listings less than 90 days old or they do not receive the full global marketing efforts and worldwide display. You can easily be missing making connections to do transactions and not realize it. In response to feedback. May we now explain.

We started making IDX links in the 1990s for brokers to link to the ICIWorld real estate database for their customers to search.  

1. The initial display of COMMERCIAL, BUSINESS AND RESIDENTIAL searches on members’ websites now display Active listings, Haves, and Wants ALWAYS less than 90 days old. They are all dated, and only the latest appears on the initial search. So if you do not want to see older listings, don’t look at them.
2. For those who want to prospect back further, you can. However, for the others who want to search further back, we kept the ability to prospect and network on older listings by giving a choice to choose how far back one wishes to search, all on the initial search form. So if you do not want to see older listings, don’t look at them. They are all dated.
3. Why do we do it this way? Most of our established and senior members who specialize in commercial real estate still want to make contact and prospect with people who had the older listings, and they can use the field called Have/Want Age and pick 1, 3,6,12 months or any age. 
4. On one of our leading websites, such as iciworld.com, there is a section called Other Ways To Search on the search page. You can use Advanced Features to search all 26,000 listings in Database 1 and 15,000 listings in Database 2 FSBO Area.

Older listings are used for networking purposes.

1. Firstly one should understand that the building still exists. It has not gone away on an older listing.
2. Secondly, the contact information is probably still okay, or you can track the person down.
3. The circumstances, of course, may have changed and possibly even for the better. Only one way to find out. Call the salesperson.
4. If the property sold, can it benefit you to find out how much it sold for?
5. Is it possible a sale fell through and is coming back for sale again?
6. Is it possible it sold but now the new owners might wish to sell?
7. Suppose you develop a good relationship with the broker or salesperson. Is it possible they know about other properties, not on the service, that you might be able to do business with?
8. If you have a good relationship with the broker, is it possible three weeks from now, they will find something that would suit your buyer or seller, call you back, and you will do a deal?

So you see that older listings are very useful and potentially very valuable for prospecting and networking purposes.

1. We had a member who searched the word medical in the subject line because he had a medical building for sale. He found a doctor who placed a Want in the Database 2 FSBO area six years ago. He found out the doctor was not only still looking but had purchased two medical buildings in the interim. He made a sale.
2. One of our studies showed that 50% of the transactions were conducted by connecting with a broker or salesperson on older listings and networking.

Members, help me out here. Anything you can add?

We ask all members to help all the newer brokers and salespeople who want to do commercial real estate. At ICIWorld, the newer brokers and salespeople have contacts to do business. One new member many years ago had a buyer for a $10M apartment building. He was the one with a good relationship with the buyer. And even though he did not know what an NOI was, everyone else did. He sold the buyer an apartment building in Scarborough for $9M but gave service back and forth, communicating promptly, on time, and successfully.

When you, as a residential real estate broker, get a call on a commercial networking message, refer to that broker. It is a win-win situation. Part-time people can do referrals to full-time agents. Win-win.