Real Estate Agent Search Alive and Well on Agentopolis

It's been a slow year in the real estate business as you are probably aware, many popular real estate web sites like Zillow and Redfin have been forced to down size and lay people off because of the huge overhead they built up when business was booming. One popular real estate agent web site, Agentopolis, has been fortunate during these tough times because of their low overhead. As a result Agentopolis was able to generate 4,398,537 realtor impressions from US visitors so far this year. Most of these impressions or views have been focused around real estate agents on the first few pages on Agentopolis so when you really run the numbers, agents on the first few pages have received the lions share of these visitor who are doing a real estate agent search. The good news is that agents can get on the first page of Agentoplis by free simply by having their past clients recommend them. Agentopolis currently lists over 1.2 million agents all with contact information so if you are looking for the easiest place on the Internet to find a Realtor, visit www.agentopolis.com

Another real estate web site that has seen it's traffic growing through these tough times is www.mlsmaps.com. This site provides consumers with free access to mls listings in every state and most metropolitan areas. With MLS Maps visitors can see almost all of the real estate and homes for sale in their area, and use "search saver" features that automatically send them an email alert when a new home comes on the market matching the criteria they have set for a home. The MLS is fast becoming the tool of choice for people looking for a home and only recently have consumers been given access to this comprehensive data base of homes for sale. If you are looking to buy a home, visit www.mlsmaps.com for a complete inventory of homes for sale in your area.

Real Estate Agent Searches on Google

You may be thinking that the real estate market is dead but according to how many people are searching for real estate agents on Google, I'd say there is still some life in the real estate market. The search term, "real estate agent" is included in a search phrase on Google 9,140,000 times a month!

Here are the top "real estate agent" searches in descending order from Google;

real estate agent

real estate agent search

real estate agents

lake real estate agent

washington real estate agent

colorado real estate agent

commercial real estate agent

become a real estate agent

new jersey real estate agent

georgia real estate agent

michigan real estate agent

find real estate agent

maryland real estate agent

becoming a real estate agent

find a real estate agent

how to become a real estate agent

nc real estate agent

real estate broker agent

land real estate agent

top real estate agent

best real estate agent

buyers real estate agent

local real estate agent

maine real estate agent

nj real estate agent

real estate agent commission

real estate agent sales

real estate agent listing

real estate agent web site

real estate agent website

real estate agent software

real estate agent directory

real estate agent list

licensed real estate agent

property real estate agent

real estate agent websites

real estate sale agent

selling real estate agent

buyer's real estate agent

need real estate agent

real estate agent buying

residential real estate agent

real estate agent coldwell

real estate agent listings

real estate agent tips

finding a real estate agent

real estate agent mls

how to find a real estate agent

keller williams real estate agent

real estate agent web sites

real estate agent rentals

condo real estate agent Realtor

REDFIN WINS!!! As differentiation among agents disappears.

I read a horrifying article on Inman News today about public facing MLS sites owned by the local MLS. The article I read referred to HAR in Houston Texas and explained all the fantastic marketing things they were doing to drive traffic to their site including billboards, radio, tv, print etc. and they are talking about syndicating the listings and automatically feeding this info to some of the big internet home marketing sites like zillow, google base, etc. All the things a great agent might also do to increase and protect their market share. If the MLS’s around the country start to act like internet marketing companies, what is left for the listing agent to do besides stick a sign in the yard, and how much commission is that really worth, hence Redfin.

While this may be great news for the struggling agents who list fewer than 6 homes a year, (an agent who might want to consider the Redfin gig as I understand it) It is terrible news for the successful real estate agents and brokers who have taken advantage of technology and the internet to further grow their business by doing a better job of selling their clients listings and building a steady stream of qualified buyers.

Think about it, the best buyer magnet in the business is an MLS broker reciprocity IDX solution. If I am a home buyer on the internet, what is the only thing that is important to me when I stumble upon your site through Google or some other method? Listings!! If you spend all the time and effort to build a nice site and drive me their only to show me your current two or three listings, I’ll be off your site in less than 30 seconds. Smart agents know this and incorporate IDX search solutions into their site. The better listing agents know how and where to place their listings on the internet to provide ever increasing exposure to their clients homes for sale. If the local MLSs start doing all this for you, then how will any agent present themselves as any better or different from any other agent. And if this becomes true, than agents become a simple commodity and the value of their service drops like a lead balloon.

Think about it, if I have a $500,000 house to sell do I want to pay $30,000 in commissions or pay a couple of grand to Pro Source, study nights and weekends, to get my realtor license so I can join the local board and let them to a fantastic job of marketing my home for next to nothing?

Agentopolis Allows Agents to Manage Their User Generated Comments

Responding to the concerns about unregulated user generated comments on the internet, Agentopolis has changed its recommendation process to include a final step which allows the agent to review the recommendation and decide whether or not to publish the comments before anyone else sees it. Whenever a visitor posts a comment/recommendation for an agent on Agentopolis, the agent receives an email letting them know. The agent can then login to their profile, read the recommendation, and decide whether or not to post it for the public to see.

Additionally, for those real estate agents who may not have verified their free listing on Agentopolis and do not know they have a web presence, if a visitor posts a comment for them, it will not be displayed until the agent responds to the email alert, verifies their listing information, and then reviews and approves the comment. Over 15,000 agents have updated their free listing by adding their photo, bio and credentials, and property listings.

Our recommendation area was always meant to be for "recommendations" and "testimonials" helping the agents put forth their best foot. We rank agents on our site by the number of client recommendations and in many cities an agent can be on the first page of our search results with only one or two recommendations, which most good agents have no trouble getting.

Please visit http://www.agentopolis.com/ to check to see if you have any recommendations and how you are ranking in your chosen city.