Two personal examples of the resonance and relevance of real estate, were front and center this past football season. During the televised football games, two real estate-related commercials constantly appeared. One was a source of pride. As the former CEO of realtor.com I loved their ads that exclaimed that they are the, “Home of Home Search.”

The other oft-appearing commercial about HomeLight left me with mixed feelings. HomeLight, a seemingly honorable company, seeks to serve the public by algorithmically determining on their behalf who are the best real estate professionals. While I love the fact that someone finally, and on a big scale, is challenging the notion, if not the delusion, that all real estate professionals are alike, I also have concerns.

My concerns can be found in the specific difference between how realtor.com and HomeLight seek to serve consumers. While at realtor.com, I remember our metrics reporting that 98% of visitors to our site clicked on the “Find a Home” button and only 2% on the “Find a Realtor” button. My strong sense was that the 2% represented real estate agents checking on their bios.

Realtor.com attracts consumers based upon property search. The HomeLight differentiator is to encourage the search for the “best agents.” Defining who the best agents are is quite ambitious for the following reasons:

  1. Some agents focus on selling more homes rather than selling or marketing homes for more.
  2. Some team leaders who accrue credit for the volume of their transactions are akin to professors who have graduate assistants teaching their classes.
  3. Some agents market or sell fewer homes but get better results.
  4. No one can ever categorically document what any sold home might have been purchased for through a different agent or company.

Because homes are not stocks or commodities, it is impossible to declare any outcome as being superior to what other agents might have been able to achieve. My reason for expressing my thoughts is that while I believe that realtor.com and other third-party portals have ably served the public by extending the range and reach of homes for sale, I have concerns regarding any third party serving up who they believe are the best agents.

All this means is that all real estate agents will have to work even harder and more strategically to keep the spotlight on their credentials.

Allan Dalton

Chief Executive Officer, Real Living Real Estate

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