UPDATE: StreetEasy Experts is now available to all brokerages. Learn more about StreetEasy Experts here, or visit the Experts Resource Center.
New York City is a complex market, and real estate success here is rooted in an agent’s knowledge of specific blocks and buildings. That’s why we’re we’re announcing StreetEasy Experts — the latest evolution of our Building Experts program, and a new way for agents with hyper-local expertise to find eager buyers.
Informed by agent feedback and a successful pilot earlier this year, Experts became available to current StreetEasy Building Expert customers beginning Sept. 19, and expanded to the larger agent community in October.
With this new program, StreetEasy success is tied to agent success. There is no additional cost for qualifying agents to participate in the Experts program. Agents are only responsible for payment if the buyer they connected with on StreetEasy successfully closes on a home.
How to Determine If Experts Is Right for You
Experts is a fantastic option for single agents looking to expand business in buildings where they have familiarity and prior knowledge. NYC buyers especially value agents with a track record of deals in a specific building, who know about fine points like the board approval process.
So in order to become eligible for this program, agents must claim their deals on StreetEasy, proving they have experience in the building within the last five years. (Note that eligibility can vary by building.)
How Experts Generates High-Quality Leads
With Experts, the relationships agents have built with management companies or specific buildings will be more evident to all prospective leads interested in those properties. Buyers will see up to three agents on sales listing pages who have recent, relevant experience in the building. They will have easy access to agent’s deal history in the building, and can choose to contact one of the Experts shown, or contact the sellers’ agent directly. Qualifying agents have the option to advertise themselves on both building and listing detail pages for buildings where they have recent deal experience.
An agent will not appear as both the listing agent and a buyer’s agent (via StreetEasy Experts) on the same listing. However, listing agents can purchase Agent Spotlight in order to get exclusive placement on the listing and be the first and only point of contact for prospective buyers.
Agents’ Feedback Was Positive
StreetEasy ran a test earlier this year with approximately 700 agents enrolled in the Building Expert program to gather feedback on its next evolution, Experts. The reaction from participating agents, sellers’ agents and prospective buyers was overwhelmingly positive. Agents experienced a 50% increase in buyer submits per listing view, and there was an overall 10% increase in customer satisfaction.
Connecting buyers with agents who have targeted experience resulted in more frequent, smoother transactions, while providing buyers with greater support and knowledge. Listing agents also found that fellow building experts can provide assistance with board packages and qualifying buyers, particularly in co-ops.
How to Get Started
The initial launch of Experts was limited to previous Building Experts who were familiar with fielding these types of connections on StreetEasy. As of October 2019, the program is available to other experienced agents. Get started by visiting the StreetEasy Experts page, and feel free to contact support@streeteasy.com with any questions.
