A free online service allows homeowners to view lists of Realtors in a given area, along with information on how many properties are currently listed by those Realtors, the average advertised price of those homes and consumer reviews of those Realtors.
Homethinking.com, now in its beta form, also helps homeowners to see what homes Realtors have sold in the past, and whether the advertised price differed from the final price, according to a company announcement today.
“The housing boom has produced a flood of realtors from which home owners are increasingly challenged to choose from,” said Niki Scevak, CEO of Homethinking LLC. “By distilling massive amounts of data and drawing upon the collective wisdom of prior home sellers, we are able to help home owners make an intelligent decision as to who should sell their most valuable asset.”
Each year, homeowners in the United States spend $70 billion on real estate broker fees. Furthermore, a Realtor’s expertise determines whether a house is sold for a good price or a bad one.
Homethinking.com, based in New York City, monitors real estate transactions and marketing data, as well as county records in California, and has plans to expand its data-collection efforts nationwide in the coming months, according to the announcement.
“In essence, Homethinking.com amplifies real estate word-of-mouth marketing, both good and bad, providing an objective resume of what the particular realtor has done in the past and what their customers have said about them,” Scevak also said in a statement. “For Realtors, Homethinking.com provides highly qualified home sellers over a medium on which they are more likely to convert into a sale: the phone.”
According to a Web site description, “Hiring great sales people is tough. And hiring sales people is not something homeowners usually do for a living. That’s why our sole purpose is to help you shine the spotlight on the most exceptional Realtor in your area, and weed out the incompetent majority quickly.”
Scevak was formerly an analyst with JupiterResearch, where he advised media firms on strategy and planning issues related to online advertising and media. David Rosenbloom, chief technology officer at Homethinking, has 20 years experience in software design, architecture and development and most recently served as the chief technology officer at Sigma Design, where he worked on the development of a peer-to-peer network platform.
After entering a city to search in, users of the site can see a list of Realtors in that area, along with the number of current listings, the brokerage company that the Realtors work with, the average advertised price of the listed properties and the high and low advertised price of properties listed by that Realtor. Clicking on a Realtor’s name provides more detailed information on currently listed and sold properties, and consumer reviews.
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