SAN FRANCISCO, CA - NeighborCity, an online real estate brokerage that operates in 20 major markets across the United States, announced the launch of AgentMatch®, an online service that helps homebuyers and sellers choose a real estate agent that meets their unique needs. Consumers using AgentMatch® can view rankings of every agent in their area based on transaction histories, performance, and relevance to their home search criteria. AgentMatch® complements NeighborCity's comprehensive property search, which aggregates Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listings, foreclosures, and for sale by owner properties.
"It's 2009. We can make cars that run on batteries, send robots to Mars, and trade stocks on phones - but finding the very best agent to buy or sell a home is still inexcusably difficult," said Jonathan Cardella, NeighborCity's® CEO. "With AgentMatch®, consumers can cut through the confusion to find and choose from the agents in their neighborhood with the most experience and best performance within their desired market segment."
Unlike many popular real estate websites that offer "featured agents" or suggest professionals based on advertising relationships, AgentMatch® collects data on every agent in its markets and displays them using a proprietary algorithm that ranks them based on relevance to the user's search criteria - price range, property type, neighborhood and past performance.
When consumers view their AgentMatch® results, they can select agents from whom they would like to receive proposals. The agents are notified and submit proposals detailing their commission structure and skills to the consumer's NeighborCity® account. Consumers remain anonymous until they choose an agent to work with. In states where it is legal, NeighborCity® rebates consumers an amount equal to 20% of their agent's gross commission.
As a licensed real estate brokerage, NeighborCity® can display MLS listings - something many online real estate websites cannot do - which gives users a complete view of properties for sale in a given market.
"NeighborCity® is great for consumers, but it's also a positive thing for the truly experienced agents that get lost among the hundreds of thousands of people who have become agents in the past few years," said Darryl Honda, an agent with Zephyr Real Estate in San Francisco, California. "The site connects qualified consumers with top agents - and for professionals like me, that's a win."
Concludes Cardella, "Real estate can often be confusing and nerve-wracking, and the process has seldom been transparent. But this is a solvable problem if you are able and willing to expose data that helps consumers make more confident decisions and allows the best professionals to succeed."
NeighborCity® is owned by American Home Realty Network, Inc., a licensed real estate brokerage. The company, founded and based in San Francisco, operates in major markets across the United States. The company is privately held.
Source: NeighborCity