Realtor.com's newest strategic partner is RealEstate.com, an agent-friendly site that posts a listing directory for agents on the front page and offers for a limited time only free Web pages. The cool thing is that with a free page, called AgentPlus, you will have a Web presence on the only other national site with 1.3 million listings. If listings can do for RealEstate.com what it did for Realtor.com, this site will soon be more than a major player.

For a limited time only, agents can continue enrolling for the AgentPlus Web sites for free, and register for a free trip to Hawaii. The basic AgentPlus sites, which include hosting, design, and lead-generation tools, will remain free indefinitely for those who join the program before July, but after that, RealEstate.com will offer upgraded AgentPlus features that will be available at a modest monthly price.

RealEstate.com offers four ways, in addition to AgentPlus, for agents to conquer the Internet:

• Exclusive Agent Referrals
• Internet Leads Program
• Agent Search
• Property Analysis

Exclusive Agent Referrals

Sponsor your own zip code and portals of your choice for a variety of reports that consumers may request. Portals include RealEstate.com, Lycos, The School  Report, or AccessAtlanta. Your name will appear on all the reports processed from those areas and the lead information will be emailed to you daily. Sponsorship for a zip code is about $15 a month.

Internet Leads Program

If you have a Web site already, you can put a RealEstate.com banner on your site. For $35 a month, (corporate rate - $105 monthly) any reports that are processed from your banner are automatically forwarded to you as leads.

Agent Search

You have to be subscriber of either a free or upgraded AgentPlus Web site, the Internet Leads program or the Exclusive Agent Referral to be included in the Agent Search directory.

When customers click on the Agent Search button and search in a geographical location, your contact information appears.

Property Analysis

When you have an AgentPlus Web site, you can capture free leads through the customized Property Analysis Reports. If someone runs a property analysis from your site, the lead goes to you. If the lead comes from RealEstate.com, the leads go to the agent who has purchased sponsorship for that zip code. Reports include:

• Residential Report - a property's past, present and future value appreciation and performance
• Neighborhood Report - identifies neighborhoods that reflect the most rapid rate of home value appreciation
• Area Performance Report - identifies how a property's demographic growth compares to the county and state growth.

Services such as Web site design, hosting, and lead generation tools, as well as the soon-to-be-released feature of having each AgentPlus site submitted to search engines will remain free to participating agents. In addition, RealEstate.com is planning to launch upgraded features next month that will be available for a nominal fee.

The advantage to the AgentPlus Web site is that your Web site does not have to be attached to listings in order for the site to be effective for you. If you are a buyer's agent, a relocation agent, or a listing agent who is sold out of listings, AgentPlus can be an ideal marketing solution.

Published: June 14, 2000

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