Zillow Adds Real Estate Agent Ratings

Real estate website Zillow has introduced a new feature that allows home buyers and sellers to search for local real estate agents based on ratings and reviews.

When people use the Zillow Directory to search for a real estate agent in their area, results are sorted by local agents with the highest overall ratings and the largest number of reviews.

Overall ratings are based on recommendations on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “very likely” and 1 “very unlikely.” Users can compare agents’ overall ratings, as well as ratings across a number of categories including: process expertise, local knowledge, responsiveness and negotiation skills.

Spencer-Rascoff "Zillow was created to help people make smarter real estate decisions, and choosing an agent is one of the most important decisions a buyer or seller can make," said Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff.

"Agent Reviews are another huge step towards transparency for buyers and sellers. For good agents, it’s a terrific way to stand out from the crowd – the next best thing to a referral. "

There are 7 Comments. Add Yours.

Gary Ashton
January 13, 2011 at 1:49 pm

The rankings seems like a reasonable idea of the those buyers that begin their search looking for a Realtor and then a house.

Most buyers start with a we search looking fro property and in the end work with an agent that is a representative of that site. Buyers very quickly can find out information about homes and properties and if the agent that contacts them provides them with the information they required in an intelligent and informative way then they have no reason to start looking at agent rankings etc.

I have a feeling that is in response to the growing trend on social media wanting to give badges and awards for logging in and using a service etc. People seem to like attracting awards and badges to maybe some buyers will like it.

Agents have their own set of education awards such as ABR or E-Pro. It will be interesting to see if Zillow allows agents to add these badges as part of their profile .

Gary
Snerdey
January 16, 2011 at 7:18 am

We’ve added Zillow to client websites. Most impressive tool for both buyers and sellers. Being I’m on the road so much it was time to get rid of my home. I used Zillow to show me the values in my own area, do a little research. It’s a great addition to not only Real Estate websites but also for Community Directories, Chamber of Commerce websites etc..

Best!
Snerdey

We’re on FaceBook
http://www.facebook.com/snerdey
Jon Kolsky
March 11, 2011 at 11:26 am

Zillow allows unfair and special treatment to a selected few, zillow has created a cyber bullying group to unfairly get rid of Real Estate Agents that did not fit the image zillow. I have absolute proof of this behavior happening to me, and I have emails from other agents this has happened to. My hope is for zillow to thrive, and stop allowing a few to have different standards inside of zillows protection.

thanks for any help
- Brad Andersohn
  March 12, 2011 at 4:10 pm
  
  The ratings and reviews are allowing many of the Zillow members to stand out above those that have no reviews. Many of our members with reviews are connecting with consumers and helping them buy and sell their homes. With the addition of our new reputation widget, I’m certain you’ll see these numbers most certainly increase. It’s a great service and tool.
  
  @Jon – Your statement unfortunately is absolutely untrue. After further research, (and our discussion when we met in Anaheim) I have come to the conclusion that your perception of the matter in which you mention may be skewed. You may be still harboring some bitterness or even resentment.
  
  My door is always open to you as I said before. I can’t go back into time and correct whatever issues you may have had with other members in the past as I was not there then, but I can help address any and all of your concerns you may have now. I am here to help, but you’ll have to come to me. I won’t chase you around on the web trying help you especially on other peoples posts and articles where they are trying to provide value and useful information to their readers. You can contact me anytime. Thanks.
  - Jon Kolsky
    April 18, 2011 at 4:30 pm
    
    Brad, just let me know what you think I should do. I only want to express my feelings about zillow thats it. It’s hard for me to show anyone whats going on because zillow is great at covering up and deflecting.
Jon Kolsky
June 6, 2011 at 7:52 pm

zillow could be a great web site for real estate information, but instead choses to be unethical, with little transparency.
sierragreen
March 21, 2012 at 3:35 am

Zillow agent reviews are phony. Try posting a negative review about an agent who advertises on Zillow and see where it goes – nowhere!