Realtor.com is extending its billing relief program, offering agents a smaller reduction this month, but also the opportunity to suspend services and extend their contract a month.
“As we navigate the current market uncertainty, we — like you — continue to evaluate what this means for our industry and our valued customers,” realtor.com CEO David Doctorow said in an email to customers obtained by Inman.
“We are in this together and as such, we would like to offer you a choice of relief options we know are critical to support your ongoing success,” Doctorow added. “While we continue to see homeowners and shoppers reach out to real estate professionals through realtor.com, we also understand that the ability for our customers to conduct business as usual has been impacted to varying extents.’
The Move-operated real estate portal originally announced on March 20 it would reduce the monthly subscription charges for the site’s advertising and lead generation solutions by 60 percent next month. As that program expires, the company is now giving its agents two options.
Agents can receive a 30 percent reduction in advertising and lead generation solutions, which will apply to previously committed and new purchases, similar to the current program in place. The customers that paid upfront will receive an adjustment on their account.
Alternatively, customers can temporarily suspend services and billings for the program, opting to tack an extra month onto their contract on the back end.
“If you choose this option, your lead flow will cease during this period and an additional month will be added to the end of your current subscription term, so that your current subscription will expire one month later than originally scheduled,” Doctorow said.
Realtor.com has two different lead generation platforms, dependent on the market. In some markets, agents pay for a certain number of impressions to be the agent that consumers connect with, when they opt to contact an agent in a specific ZIP code.
In other markets, realtor.com has replaced that service with one from Opcity, which acts as a referral service. Agents pay a portion of their commission for closed leads.
The company’s top portal rival Zillow has also made similar moves to reduce billing costs to agents.
