Discount brokerage Redfin has released an agent evaluation tool, the Redfin Scouting Report, allowing homebuyers to choose individual agents based on a number of factors, including "how many homes each agent sold, where, for how much, how fast, with how many price drops, how recently, all on a map," according to CEO Glenn Kelman.
"We as brokers and agents are acutely aware of why [consumers] spend more money on a real estate agent than a car: because the value of [a homebuyers’] largest investment hangs in the balance," wrote Kelman. "We can’t insist that we’re worth it without taking seriously consumers’ need to evaluate our performance."
Tools which allow prospective buyers and sellers to evaluate or rank individual agent performance have caused controversy in real estate circles before.
Many agents fear that making it easier for homeowners to sort agents based on sales would do more harm than good – making it tougher for new agents to break into the industry, and concentrating even more sales volume among a few top agents in a given area.
In Texas, the Houston Association of Realtors created a similar "Agent Match" tool on its popular consumer search site last April, but many of its features were disabled after a few days when agents rebelled. And Zillow’s star rating feature caused considerable outcry when it was released last fall.
The scouting report has data on more than 1 million agents across the country. In Massachusetts, it pulls data from MLS-PIN, the largest of the state’s three multiple listing services.
MLS-PIN President and CEO Kathy Condon told Banker & Tradesman Redfin did not approach her company prior to the release of its scouting reports.
"We haven’t even contemplated [using MLS-PIN data for] agent ratings under our rules," she said.
But any member brokerage is allowed to use sales data for advertising purposes. And since users are required to register on Redfin’s site in order to access the tool, they are regarded as clients of the agency, empowering Redfin to give them greater access to market data.
"Our rules don’t prohibit that, especially if it’s inside their website," Condon explained.
Redfin’s new gadget may cause a stir, but that doesn’t mean it’s something most real estate agents should worry about.
Trisha Solio, an agent with Prudential Unlimited Realty in Jamaica Plain, was approached by Redfin to have her profile used as an example of the information which can be dug up on non-Redfin agents through the scouting report.
She said she didn’t mind being the poster child for the new feature.
"I thought I would compare favorably to any of their agents," Solio said. "I’ve sold a lot more property than they have."
"There are lots of factors that go into selecting a good real estate agent," said Laurie Cadigan, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and broker-owner of Barrett & Co. in Concord. "I don’t think it’s going to be an end-all be-all tool for sure. I think people want the opportunity to present their entire resume."
Local Redfin officials defended the objectivity of the ratings.
"We’re not putting up anything negative; this is simply the deals that they’ve done and the timing that they’ve done them. It’s not subjective in any way, shape or form," said Alex Coon, manager of Redfin’s Boston office. "We make it really easy, too, for agents to correct or change things if they need to."
But make no mistake; the brokerage regards the new info as part of the wave of the future.
"We’ve done this for our own agents for a really long time and clients have really loved it," Coon said. "So this is just part of our continued push for transparency, which everybody has asked for and wanted for a long time."
