Showcase Yourself as a Real Estate Expert

Zillow Group data shows that consumers obsessively search online when they are about to buy or sell a home.

They research housing comps, schools and neighborhoods. They also research agents.

It’s a stark reminder that nothing dies on the internet and the tentacles of your online branding reach far beyond your professional website. Potential clients can see everything attached to your name online.

Every social media comment, every tweet, every photo you thought you’d restricted under privacy controls – and who among us truly understands those labyrinthine settings? – are all fair game for how buyers and sellers perceive your real-world capabilities as an agent.

But what if you could leave smart, insightful comments about listings that would be read by the nation’s largest audience of home shoppers? And what if these comments helped grow your reputation online as a real estate expert in your target neighborhoods?

Zillow now offers agents the ability to do exactly that.

A new feature
Home Tour Highlights is a new way for agents to showcase their real estate knowledge on Zillow.com.

Every time you tour a home for sale, you can leave valuable, on-the-ground feedback. Your picture and a link to your profile appear next to each comment, helping you grow your brand in the neighborhoods where you want more visibility. And it’s free.

Zillow data shows that 50 percent of visitors to Zillow and Trulia plan to buy or sell within six months. Contributing to real-time discussions in the marketplace helps boost your perception as an active, well-informed agent – and it helps buyers make more informed choices.

In fact, knowledge is key when it comes to cementing the agent-buyer partnership, according to 2017 data from Zillow Group’s Consumer Housing Trends Report. Eighty-two percent of buyers who use an agent value the guidance agents provide through the overall buying process, the data showed.  

The social currency of reviews
Furthermore, brain research shows people make decisions based on emotions, according to findings by Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist and celebrated TED Talk speaker who pioneered groundbreaking work on the subject.

'On a site like Zillow, which is teeming with active and interested consumers, writing personal observations on a listing that evokes emotion helps attract potential buyers,' said Nate Moch, vice president of product teams. 'It offers a social proof point on a big purchase,' he added.

“Today’s consumers expect authentic reviews and demand more than just basic descriptions when it comes to home shopping,” he said. “Home Tour Highlights on Zillow will motivate shoppers to tour a property by providing expert insights that go beyond the listing.”

The feature rolled out this year in San Jose, CA; Dallas, TX; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, OK; Kansas City, MO, and Jacksonville, FL. It's expected to roll out more broadly later in 2018.

Agents who have tested it in their markets say they’re excited by the chance to share their expertise and reach more consumers.

“From what I’m seeing right now, the more I (leave comments), the higher my page views,” said Grant Inaba, a Premier Agent in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He tries to write feedback that buyers will find useful and connects on an emotional level. For instance, on a listing in the affluent neighborhood of Orinda, CA, he appealed to buyers seeking that ultimate luxury – privacy.

“Beautiful multi-level home on a hillside with a panoramic view that includes the San Pablo and Briones Reservoirs,” he wrote. “Lots of trees all around for privacy.”

A marketing play
Caitlyn Mathers, a Premier Agent in the greater Oklahoma City region, started using the feature two months ago.    

“I like the fact that (Home Tour Highlights) is another way for me to advertise and get my face out there,” she said.   

Melanie Gromov, an agent who also works in the Oklahoma City area, has been an avid user of Home Tour Highlights and has left more than 130 comments over the past two months – one of Zillow’s top producers of the feature.

“With Zillow being impression-based, (Home Tour Highlights) solidifies me in the market,” she said.

Melanie added that she writes only positive comments and can usually find a silver lining to most houses – except for one house she recently toured with bullet holes in the walls.

“I didn’t leave a review for that one,” she said, laughing.