HomeLight – A New Way for Consumers to Find You
HomeLight is a new web platform that matches buyers and sellers with real estate agents, but they do it in a very unique way. Rather than relying on reviews and recommendations, HomeLight seeks to match buyer or seller with an agent that has experience with the particular style of home/area/price range that the consumer is looking for or is trying to sell.
The HomeLight website has a very modern appearance and through my experience seems to be very easy to use from the consumer’s perspective. It’s a no cost service and doesn’t require a log-in to peruse the site.
I recently read a great book called ZMOT and it talks about winning at the “zero moment of truth” – this occurs when consumers go through their due diligence to make sure they are selecting the best product or service available by researching and gathering data online. This important part of the buying process cannot be ignored by business owners if they want to succeed today. HomeLight seems to fit right into this phase and should be something to look at if you are a Realtor.
So what’s missing? According to the 2012 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers the two most important traits that buyers and sellers are looking for in an agent are the reputation of the agent, and that the agent is honest and trustworthy. In its current state, HomeLight doesn’t exactly meet those needs. However, Drew Uher, Co-Founder of HomeLight, mentioned to me during our conversation over Skype, that they have plans to add reviews as well.
This service is only a week old and has the opportunity to grow quickly based on the website’s premise, ease of use and the financial backing they have fueling their endeavor. They have the opportunity to shake things up a bit and provide a brand new data point for people to consider when choosing an agent.
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Steve,
As Homelight is a brokerage (charging a referral fee), isn’t it presumptuous to skip the broker (NJ) and recruit the agent?
Personally, I like the look and feel of Homelight but resent being circumvented.
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Jim
I just logged into HomeLight. There is nowhere for an agent to put in their areas served nor their specialties. I see several realtors on the site that are rated in the top numbers but work exclusively for builders. Also some top realtors only specialize in particular neighborhoods and not cities. An agent that works exclusively for a builder should not show up as a top seller for a city. A choice cannot be made on pure analytics, in my opinion
Hey Jim, did you see Drew’s answer on the FB page? http://www.facebook.com/techsavvyagent
This is giving too much credit for the leaders of teams. You know, the agents who mask their name over their buyers agents. Too much credit for foreclosure agents and builder reps too. And no mention at all of professional designations in the profile area. #fail
yet another referral site – different spin. guy isn’t an agent and has never sold a house — same old skim $$ off of agents without doing any work.
This appears to be a very good online platform for the three parties to meet, buyer, seller and broker. Best thing I liked about the website is uncluttered and clean interface, which makes it easier for the users to learn and operate.
Can’t wait to join the bandwagon.
Great looking website but I sorry that they are going down the referal route. this will change and hopefully Drue will keep his clients with another business model.
Hey everyone, this is Drew from HomeLight and thanks for the comments. I’ll attempt to address:
Jim – We do work with brokers, and in many states are legally obligated to to accept referral fees. Several brokers have contacted us with a desire to sign up all their agents, and we are working with them to do so. We’d love to work with you. Feel free to reach out to sales@homelight.com.
Terri & Stephanie – You bring up great points about builder’s agents & teams. These are hard problems to solve, but we have already flagged (by hand) hundreds of agents who represent builders and have deemphasized them in search results. We also do the same for REO agents. Teams are a tougher problem and in 2013 we’d like to launch functionality that separates teams from individuals.
Mike – I actually am a licensed real estate broker, but that’s not relevant. What is relevant is whether we are adding value to clients and agents, and I believe we are. For clients, we offer a truly revolutionary way to find the RIGHT agent for them – someone who is an expert in their area, price point, and property type. For agents, we offer the best way to promote your reputation online (and it’s free). We are also a new way to source business, but unlike Zillow, Trulia, or Realtor.com (all of which “skim” by your definition) you don’t have to pay us unless you actually make money from our site.
Real Estate VA – Glad you like the site. Happy to have you on the platform!
LOL @ “obligated” to take referrals. I guess that’s being said with the concept of a “sucker being born every minute” in mind.
What is the referral fee?
Do you need a license to link out to HomeLight?
I am not a fan — they are just marketing their choices who buy leads. I do not think they are qualified to select the best realtors. I do not like the authoritarian tone. You cannot find the best realtors for someone based on self asserted statistics. I trust reviews more than some website claiming to have “the best”.