Realty Agents

Disclosure:  I have been a Homes.com customer since 2002.

Homes.com offers template web sites for Realtors and brokerages.  The sites are easy to modify.  Homes.com is able to import and agent’s listings directly from the MLS.  The company offers a decent selection of templates, though I only recall them adding new template options once since I started using their services. They also offer customization and search engine optimization services that one can purchase separately.

When I bought my homes.com site, I did almost no research into the other sites that were available at the time.  Frankly, I did not even know where to begin such a search.  I was a new agent and all I knew was that I wanted a web presence.  My naiveté had me believing that “if I built it, they would come.”

When I first got the site, I spent at least 20 hours customizing it and adding more content.  Over time, I added city pages and more localized content as I began to get a better sense of what would help the site to perform better.  If you are not going to spend a little time adding content to these sites, don’t even bother getting one.

Today my Homes.com site is just one of 3 sites that I maintain.  I have outgrown the site, and feel limited by its lack of functionality.  I still use it because it does something important: gets good traffic.

Dominion Enterprises, the company that operates Homes.com, also owns Advanced Access and Number1Expert.  Number1Expert sites, which are more expensive than Homes.com sites, seem to have much better search engine placement.

Here are some specifics on my personal view of Homes.com’s sites for agents.  I have not used their brokerage solution, so I cannot speak to that.

Analytics: Weak. 
Homes.com provides poor information on where my traffic is coming from, compared to my point2agent site and my personal blog.  I use the analytics to tell me where I need to improve my efforts and I would like more robust information than homes.com offers.  I would also like it live, not 24 hours later.  I really know very little about the traffic I get other than how many came.  To me this is a major flaw.

Ease of Use:  Not bad
Homes.com offers course on how to use their sites.  I have never taken one.  I found the site easy to use, though some of the navigation for setting up pages is cumbersome.

Adding Listings:  Easy
They can be fed automatically from your MLS or you can input manually.

Display of Listings:  Nice
I like the slide show feature for 10 pictures.  I wish they would allow more than 10 as most other sites do now (Realtor.com and Point2Agent.com).

Technology: Weak
As far as template sites go, I think Homes.com falls low on the technology curve.  I have asked them about a blog feature since 2004.  They never could support it so I went out and set up my own.  This is not ideal.  I would like to have my site and my blog on the same site because it has great advantages for SEO. 

Templates:  OK, not great.
I find the current selection of templates to be dated and there are only a few that really interest me at all.  There is not much of appeal for those who work in a luxury market and there is a major bias for southern themes and styles.

Customer support:  OK. Maybe.
I wish they had longer tech support hours.  Email support can be very slow.  I have had an ongoing problem with Homes.com ability to take photos from my MLS for 2 years.  So it is hard to give that a high grade.

Cost:  Higher than it should be for what you get.

Overall:  Today, Homes.com would not be my personal first choice for a template web page provider.  I would prefer to work with a company with a bigger commitment to new technology.  On the other hand, these sites are easy to use, which is a consideration for many agents.  No matter what provider an agent choses, a personal web site will not perform unless you input original content and you update it frequently.

Your rating for "Homes.com"

Registered agents aren't asked for this information each visit. Register now, or login.

Name

Email

Your Comment

Please type the word you see in the box below:

Previous Comments

Next entry: HomeFeedback.com

Previous entry: ConnectingNeighbors.com

<< Back to main