Realtor review site
We introduced you to Mountain of Agents earlier this year, a site that allows consumers to rate Realtors based on far less subjective metrics than the industry standard of “give this agent five stars” mentality.
Mountain of Agents Founder, Michael Becker said, “With the gaggle of sites out there trying to cram the entire real estate universe into a cluttered, messy single entity, our site offers a breath of fresh air to consumers and agents by focusing on usability, relevancy and reliability.”
Becker and his team has just made some changes to the public member profiles and how they are rated and has other updates in the pipeline.
iPhone app now available
Mountain of Agents’ biggest update is that they now offer an iPhone app which they are calling “consumer-centric” and offers to “showcase the agents in the palm of your hand.”
When Realtors register themselves on the site, the are included in the mobile search as well as the web search and Becker adds that when a Realtor reserves a zip code, their featured listing is displayed on mobile searches.
We suspect that the biggest use for an app like this is consumers physically on the prowl that need an agent to open the door for them or as one of several research methods for selecting a potential listing agent.
Mixed reviews of reviews
The site has launched to mixed reviews as many in the industry are not supportive of ratings for Realtors. The biggest criticism being publicly noted regarding Mountain of Agents was that there is no validation method employed like Zillow ratings, thus allowing any web user to review any agent which lends to gaming of the system or abuse at the least. Becker told us that they have responded to this criticism by requiring a validated email address in order to rate an agent and users can only rate an agent once.
Michelle Corey
June 27, 2011 at 9:41 am
Could be a helpful new tool for buyers as long as we qualify them before jumping in car to show them a house on the spot.
Jason Atkins
June 27, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Another proof that the real estate industry is technology-driven to date! But consumers ought to be more watchful when funneling out which ones will be useful and are relevant to their needs and budget. It's good to know that Mountain of Agents is fine-tuning its validation method as well.
Ben Fisher
June 28, 2011 at 11:10 am
Interesting concept. I'll have to check this out. I can see how it could be bad though.
Eric Holmes
June 28, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Well, let's say you compete with another agent in a neighborhood/farm. All you have to do is follow their transactions via MLS and then go to gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc. and create an email account say sellerof1234mystreet@gmail.com. At that point you could go in a bash your competition in the teeth with low ratings and their would be no repercussions. Over time, you could have them rated low enough that it affects their business and in turn improves your own. It's not ethical, but that doesn't stop some agents in search of easy money.
Sign up if you want but I'll stick to referrals instead of ratings to get my business. Buyer beware.
Mountain of Agents
June 30, 2011 at 1:40 pm
@Eric Holmes Good point. Agents always associate a ratings website with the possibility of getting unfairly bashed by competitors, which is why we built the Mountain of Agents rating system around a "positive-only" methodology. Knowing that this is a sticking point for many realtors when they decide to join a site like ours, we made sure that the only ratings you'll receive are positive ones, or none at all.
Let us know if you have any other questions!