00:00I'm Allison LaForgia coming to you from Dallas, Texas, and today I'm joined by Ryan Smith,
00:09who is the Senior Business Development Executive at Homes.com. Ryan, thank you for sitting down
00:15with me today. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. Let's start with a little bit about your
00:22role at Homes.com and how your work ties into the company's broader mission, which is to support
00:28agents and the real estate ecosystem. Absolutely. I've been with Homes.com close to 10 years now.
00:34My role is Senior Business Development, so I educate real estate professionals on a brokerage
00:40level, show how we are different and put the agent first compared to the other platforms that are out
00:45there who practice lead diversion models. Now, you just mentioned something that I think is pretty
00:52important in this conversation that we're all having around supporting the real estate ecosystem,
00:58which is agent first. Homes.com has positioned itself as agent first in a time when agents are
01:05feeling increasingly commoditized. What does being agent first actually mean in practice,
01:11not just in messaging? We practice agent first throughout the entire platform and in our business
01:17model of your listing, your lead. We primarily show the listing agent with their contact information,
01:22brand, and then we directly connect the consumer with the listing agent compared to, as you know,
01:28the other platforms that are out there that use lead diversion and will connect the consumer to
01:32another agent, their competitor, because they're paying to be on the platform. So unlike the other
01:38platforms, we're not built on a pay-to-play type model. We generate revenue by elevating the agent's
01:44success through membership, powerful digital marketing, and world-class customer service.
01:50From your perspective, where do you think the real estate industry has historically missed the mark
01:56in enabling digital marketplaces to truly serve agents and consumers simultaneously?
02:03Kind of ties into probably my last answer of lead diversion. It's kind of that bait and switch where
02:09consumers believe they're getting the listing agent who truly knows the property, but then end up getting
02:15connected to another agent who, you know, really doesn't know the listing. They just paid, you know,
02:19for that connection. Not only is it misleading to the consumer, but pretty unfair to the listing agent
02:25that was hired to represent that property. Then their contact information and brand is now being hidden
02:31and the consumer is connected with, you know, a competing agent who really just bought that lead.
02:35Now, you just mentioned direct consumer connections as a differentiation point. I want to dig in a
02:42little bit more there. I've noticed that homes.com emphasizes visibility, brand recognition, and like
02:50you said, those direct consumer connections. Why are those elements critical for agents?
02:56Visibility, brand recognition is very critical, you know, in today's market, especially,
03:01you know, technology advancing. It's now a hundred percent of home searching starts online. So
03:08having a strong online presence is more important than ever. And homes.com delivers that visibility
03:14and recognition as a local expert, for instance, on our neighborhood pages, our school content pages,
03:20the directory, and then especially on the listing. So not hiding that professional and really showcasing
03:26them, their brand and having them seed more, their listing sold quicker.
03:31Ryan, you just mentioned a few specific features that I thought were so interesting when I went
03:38through this site. How do those features like neighborhood insights, school data, and agent
03:44spotlights really change the way that agents tell their story in an age, like you mentioned, where that
03:50online presence is absolutely critical? And more importantly, build trust with today's more informed
03:57buyers and sellers. Absolutely. So we're showcasing them as true local experts with knowledge about the area, the
04:04schools, the neighborhoods, because they have had experience with working with buyers and sellers in those areas
04:10before. So when a potential home buyer seller is researching these pages, they have a true expert that they can
04:17connect with. They can see that they've done, you know, worked with buyers at that price point or in that specific
04:22neighborhood. And we've built a clean ad free platform for the best home buying experience.
04:28When buying a home, you know, you're not just buying the four walls and the land, you're buying the
04:32community, the lifestyle. We want them to be more confident and educated, you know, when on their home
04:38journey. It's, you know, one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make. So we want them to feel good
04:44about, you know, who they can connect with, and that they're buying in the right area.
04:48You just mentioned education, and you've referenced the partnership between homes.com and agents who use
04:55the platform. And it seems like that seems to be a really core piece to the homes.com model from
05:03ongoing support to membership resources. Why do you believe that long-term agent success requires
05:11more than just traffic or leads? Yeah, because homes.com, it offers so much more than just
05:18leads and traffic. You get brand recognition. You have our innovative tools, such as our contact
05:23targeting, listing presentation tool to help them win more listings, stay connected with their sphere,
05:28past clients. We amplify the most important aspects of their business and where majority of their
05:34business actually comes from, not just, you know, deliver buyer leads. We value customer success
05:40and our dedicated account executives ensure that from the very beginning with initial onboarding,
05:45monthly educational reviews. They're the point of contact for the agent during the entire duration.
05:53So they're not getting the runaround or have to, who they connect to, or, you know,
05:57the runaround from customer support. It's, they oversee their account. They oversee
06:02the entire program for them and ensure the success and educate them on the tools to be more successful.
06:10It seems like that's a real partnership, not a transactional type of relationship.
06:16So Ryan, as we look ahead to 2026 and beyond, as real estate professionals plan for whatever the
06:25next phase of the market may be, what makes you the most excited about how professionals can partner
06:31with platforms like homes.com to help them grow stronger in the future?
06:35Yeah. Homes.com continue to invest in things like our neighborhood content pages we were talking
06:41about earlier for both the consumers and real estate professionals, but we differentiate ourselves
06:46with putting agents first, assist them with growing their brand and growing their business.
06:52Just to give an example, look at CoStar Group's recent acquisition of Matterport,
06:57which is now part of the homes.com membership. So really continuing adding value and helping the
07:03agents grow their business and stay top of mind versus, you know, kind of the typical platforms
07:08out there of just sending over buyer leads. So establishing their brand and amplifying the
07:14most important parts of their business. Ryan, thank you so much for joining me today and walking me
07:20through the homes.com difference and how homes.com is looking to partner with agents to continue to
07:26build on their success in the future.
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