The creator of RealtyBaron, a site that offers agent ratings and reviews and allows agents to bid for business by negotiating commission rates and rebates online, has launched a new Web site built around its agent rankings formula.

AgentRank.com bases its rankings on agents’ experience, recent home-sale transactions and endorsements from past clients, among other variables.

The creator of RealtyBaron, a site that offers agent ratings and reviews and allows agents to bid for business by negotiating commission rates and rebates online, has launched a new Web site built around its agent rankings formula.

AgentRank.com bases its rankings on agents’ experience, recent home-sale transactions and endorsements from past clients, among other variables. Consumers searching at the site can choose to search by location and can also specify whether to search agents by sales volume or number of endorsements.

Marc Dugger, who launched RealtyBaron.com in 2004, said there has been a demand by agent participants in the RealtyBaron bidding system to connect directly with consumers rather than solely through the bidding platform.

In the RealtyBaron auction-style platform, agents pay the company only when leads from the site end up as closed sales transactions.

Agents wanted "unfettered access to customers," he said. "This is what AgentRank essentially is — putting (information) out there with no advertising. Agents are listed and ranked just as they are on RealtyBaron," and consumers can contact agents directly through the site.

There are about 3,000 agents who are ranked at the RealtyBaron site, and Dugger said he is hopeful that the addition of the AgentRank site will prompt more agents to supply information so that they can be included in the search. There are links at the new site that allow agents to submit information to be included in the searches.

Dugger has also developed an application programming interface, or API, for AgentRank that will allow other sites to embed the ranking search tools in their own sites.

There have been a host of other sites that allow consumers to rate and review real estate agents and brokers, and some have been short-lived.

Active ratings sites include HomeThinking.com, IncredibleAgents.com and RealtyRators.com, among others.

Brokerate.com, a ratings and review site created by Brownstoner.com blogger Jonathan Butler, is inactive and is now registered to Eurobox Ltd., a company in St. Petersburg, Russia. And AgentLine.com, an agent ratings site launched in 2006, is no longer active.

Unlike some review sites, RealtyBaron and AgentRank do not accept anonymous reviews, Dugger said.

***

What’s your opinion? Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor.

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×