Zillow Inc. has launched a mobile-enabled collaborative home search and shopping tool, Agentfolio, that’s aimed at buy-side agents and their clients, allowing them to search, comment on, review and share homes they are interested in.
The tool — which is free for agents who advertise with Zillow in one of its “Premier Agent” packages, and $25 per month for agents who do not — is available today in Chicago and coming soon to Boston, New York City and other markets, Zillow said.
Video from Zillow promoting Agentfolio.
The tool allows an agent to create a folio with clients and team members by entering their email addresses into the system. An agent can create custom searches for each folio and get instant alerts from Zillow when a new property enters the system that might be of interest to their clients. The tool also allows agents to see clients’ activity, giving them insight into how buy-ready they might be.
“The home search has gotten too complicated for the inbox, making it difficult for agents and their clients to communicate effectively about listings,” said Susan Daimler, director of Agentfolio at Zillow, in a statement.
“This is a big deal folks,” wrote Matt Cohen, chief technology officer at real estate industry management and technology consulting firm Clareity Consulting, in a blog post today. “Tools like this continue to chip away at the value of everything from the prospecting functions of the MLS to the relative usefulness of having listings on agent or MLS websites. It’s time for folks to recognize that it’s not important just to have the listing content – it’s about making it useful.”
Agentfolio is the product of Zillow’s acquisition of the New York City-based collaborative home search tool Buyfolio in October. A version for brokerages includes a lead capture page for brokerage websites and a lead tracking and management tool.
Do you agree with Cohen? Is this a big deal?
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from Matt Cohen, chief technology officer at real estate industry management and technology consulting firm Clareity Consulting.
