In the three years (has it really been that long!?) since I wrote that post, things have changed a lot. The sites we were talking about died (or are still dying) a slow, painful death. And, something new came along to take their place.

How did these ranking sites die (or descend into irrelevance)?

Well, Snoop’s comment on the original post proved prescient. The ratings sites on the whole were created by groups with limited resources and without much ability to generate traffic. Just like a newspaper can’t succeed if no on reads it, a ratings site can’t succeed if no one reads or leaves ratings on it.

Large players, like realestate.com.au and others, had a strong disincentive to get involved in a site that could come to host negative ratings that could be embarrassing or even harmful to some of it’s customers. So they never put their resources behind such a project.

As a result, the ratings sites suffocated.

At the same time, something new came along. The online world was changing. Facebook, Twitter and other social media became the most dynamic part of the internet, and, today, online reputation management means almost one single thing: social media marketing.

So, how do you do you manage your reputation online? Well, you talk directly to customers and build relationships with them. People post the most amazing things online, including how delighted or furious they are with their real estate agent.

You’re a person, they are people. If they are happy, you say how wonderful it is. And, if they are angry, you find out why and try to fix it. In that way you build relationships, defuse problems and build your reputation.

The idea of social media reputation management for real estate agents is a big topic, and deserves several posts of its own. But, I hope this introduction is enough for here and now.

Take care, Jeremy.

The website that I run allows people to leave reviews and ratings for apartment buildings, so I’m definitely for this type of thing.

Question is, who’s going to be the one to release such a site?

Obviously a new definition of track record is headed our way from America! Just as interesting is that the real estate models that Australian real estate agencies copied from America ie Remax have been a distinct failure which further explains why agencies are dismantling these useless concepts of agents buying desks in an agency and then “pay the owner to stay”.

Little wonder the monkeys were climbing the climbing the walls throwing peanuts at anyone who came in sight.

I am not a real estate agent, but have on several occassions had to face the deliberation on which agent to choose to sell my property. In all I’ve had to make that decision 4 times so far.

How much were those decisions worth to me?
1)Commission: Lets say 2.5% commission on 4 properties of average value of $500k in todays $ – that’s $50k.
2)Price realised on sale: lets assume the difference in price realised by a great agent over a crap one is say 10% of the property value – ie a good agent might achieve $550, a bad one $500k for the same property. So thats 10% of 4 properties at $500k = another $200k.

So all up these decisions have been worth about $250k to me. More than likely the most significant $ decisions I will make in my life.

So what information did I have to inform these decisions worth $250k? 1)Market share:Which agent appears to have the most properties for sale. 2)Pretty advertisements: who’s advertisements/property magazines look the best, 3) Personality of individual agent :Which agent came across as a decent and capable guy 4) References from friends / family, 5) Commission: who is asking the lowest commission.

Not much to work with for such a major decision huh?

What a I getting at here? Well I guess what I am saying is I think agents should spend a bit more time putting yourselves in the shoes of your customers for a moment. They need to make the biggest financial decision of their lives and they have very very little real data to go on..

1) to 3) are very flaky reasons to choose one agent over another.
4) is fine if you actually know anyone who has used a particular agent before. Problem is that unless you really trust this person their opinion ain’t worth much anyway. (Hmm…Now if there were 20 strangers telling me the same thing…!)

5) is where I suspect many of you end up in your negotiations with potential customers – mainly because its the only tangible info you can use to make a decision on.

Bottom line is vendor’s need more tangible info to use in the decision making. Given the alternative of 5) above – (capable) agents should be embracing this because it means more $.

Also, realestate.com.au’s consumer survey found that the most important deciding factor for consumers (58%) is professionalism. Little sly tricks like that would certainly undermine one’s professional image, and one would imagine it would lead to fewer referrals and fewer walk-in clients.

The full list of the top 5 factors affecting vendors’ choice of estate agents are:
Professionalism 58%
Local market knowledge 48%
Percentage commission charged 41%
Presentation 39%
Responsiveness 39%

Source: realestate.com.au Quarterly Property Consumer Insights Report (Sept. 2007).

Does anyone know of any stats to support which way actually works best?

BTW I’m amazed at how many listings come through my client alert without any photos attached as agents rush to get the listing uploaded. Great first impression for buyers & potential sellers. Not!!

So. How about having listings appear below these results by how much information is provided. More pictures, land size, building size etc the higher they appear in results.

This will have a two fold effect. 1. Vendors will place pressure on agents because their listings are not appearing and 2. Agents will compete on quality and quantity of information provided.