Agents with West Coast brokerage Realty One Group will get more prominent display of their listings on Homes.com and enhancements including additional photos, brokerage logo, and agent and broker contact information, the companies said today.
Realty One Group CEO Kuba Jewgieniew said in a statement that the company values the "tremendous exposure" Homes.com can offer its listings.
"Ensuring our sales associates’ contact information is front and center is one more way that Realty One Group maintains its focus on each individual agent," Jewgieniew said. "Because we know how hard they work to obtain listings, we strongly believe that they deserve to have access to all inquiries that come in on their listings, and therefore proudly absorb the cost for the enhancements."
Las Vegas-based Realty One Group operates 15 brokerage offices with more than 4,000 agents in Arizona, Nevada and Southern California.
Third-party sites like Zillow, Trulia and Homes.com will display listings data at no charge to listing brokers. But some brokerages choose not to "syndicate" their listings because of concerns about advertisements and lead forms for rival companies’ agents that may appear next to them. Portals may block or reduce the visibility of ads for rival brokers when brokers or their agents pay for listing "enhancements."
Homes.com, a division of Norfolk, Va.-based marketing and publishing company Dominion Enterprises, claims more than 12.5 million consumers visit Homes.com each month to search nearly 4 million properties for sale or rent. Consumers can also use the site locate real estate agents in their area and to find home buying tips.
Last fall, Homes.com launched a new service in which it powers home searches for newspapers and other media outlets.
The company also offers an integrated marketing platform for brokers and agents, Homes Connect, that integrates with Homes.com, allowing users to manage leads and featured listings, view advertising reports, and answer consumer questions posted by consumers on Homes.com’s Q&A Community.
