Two more brokerages have signed up to receive leads from ZipRealty.com, bringing the total number of brokerages participating in the "Powered by Zip" referral program to five, the company said today.
ZipRealty has closed or is in the process of closing down its own brokerage operations in four of the five markets where it’s providing referrals to other brokerages — Atlanta, Tucson, Philadelphia, and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. ZipRealty agents in those markets have been offered positions with ZipRealty’s referral partners.
The Emeryville, Calif.-based brokerage did not previously have a presence in the fifth "Powered by Zip" market: Nashville, Tenn.
The latest "Powered by Zip" agreements will leave ZipRealty with brokerage operations in 21 markets and referral partners in five more, allowing ZipRealty.com to provide listings data in 26 markets.
ZipRealty will continue to provide brokerage services in Austin, Texas; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Houston; Los Angeles; Las Vegas; New York City; Orange County, Calif.; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; Richmond, Va.; Sacramento, Calif.; Salt Lake City; San Diego; Seattle; the San Francisco Bay Area; and Washington, D.C.
Powered by Zip partners feed listings data to the ZipRealty.com website and receive all buyer and seller leads the website generates in their market area. ZipRealty earns referral fees from leads it provides to its partners.
In addition to receiving leads from ZipRealty.com, "Powered by Zip" partners have access to ZipRealty’s customer relationship management (CRM) tool, which they can also use with their own website buyer and seller leads.
The latest Powered by Zip partners are Philadelphia-based Coldwell Banker Hearthside Realtors — the largest Coldwell Banker affiliate in Pennsylvania, with more than 500 agents in 16 offices — and Bob Parks Realty, the third-largest brokerage in the Nashville market with more than 400 agents in 11 offices, the companies said.
ZipRealty had previously announced referral partnerships with Better Homes and Gardens Metro Brokers in Atlanta; Long Realty in Tucson, Ariz.; and Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston in Raleigh, N.C.
When ZipRealty announced in July that it was expanding the "Powered by Zip" program beyond the Atlanta and Tucson test markets, it said it would focus initially on markets where the company did not provide brokerage services.
In Atlanta and Tucson, the referral program generated "hundreds of additional real estate transactions totaling over $40 million" in six months, the company said at the time.
ZipRealty began the year by closing brokerage offices in 12 of 35 markets as a cost-cutting measure, and announced in July that it was eliminating buyer rebates. In October, ZipRealty announced it was dropping website registration requirements to view listing details on ZipRealty.com in most markets.
In reporting third-quarter results, ZipRealty said revenue from commissions generated by its own agents’ transactions was down 18 percent from a year ago, to $22 million.
Revenue from corporate- and market-level transaction referrals, marketing agreements, lead generation and advertising was also down 5 percent over the same period, to $1.28 million. Revenue from market-level referrals was up 54 percent, to $250,000.
