Social Skills: Is Nextdoor the Newest Real Estate Portal?

When Nextdoor was still making its way into the mainstream social media space, its uses in real estate were broad and vague. While it provided real estate agents with the tools to better connect with local prospects, they often had to take the initiative to formulate their own strategy and be creative with the information and resources the app was providing.

In 2017, Nextdoor introduced a real estate section that allowed real estate agents to claim a free local page where they could connect with residents, respond to any inquiries and get reviewed. Additionally, this gave agents the opportunity to purchase a “branded listings” feature that would allow neighbors to see reviews alongside the agent’s listings. Within this section, Nextdoor also allows agents to promote their business using the Neighborhood Sponsor feature, similar to Zillow’s zip code-based advertising.

Nextdoor has taken that section a step further, playing a more proactive role in agents’ lives, but at a cost. With Your Home, a new feature announced last month, Nextdoor claims that agents can better position themselves as a neighborhood real estate resource.

“We know that real estate agents are the true local experts of communities. Nextdoor continues to be invested in this by building out our existing tools to provide meaningful ways for agents to connect with potential homebuyers and sellers,” said Lauren Nemeth, chief revenue officer of Nextdoor. “With Your Home, agents have yet another touchpoint to build their brand, establish credibility and build relationships with the neighbors they serve.”

About the Your Home Feature
App users can access this new feature by visiting the Real Estate section, which can be found through the hamburger icon on the bottom-right of the screen. Within that section, Your Home is at the top right. Here’s what it offers:

Home Property Values – Allows consumers to track their home’s estimated value over time

• The estimated value is provided by ComeHome, a portal launched by HouseCanary earlier this year.
• In addition to the estimated value, ComeHome also provides the increase or decrease over last month’s value as a percentage.

Property Detail – Consumers can manage their property information privately

• Home valuations take the numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms into account, as well as property and lot square footage—all of these details can be revised within the app.
  

Home Sale Calculator – Allows app users to fill out a form to determine estimated sale proceeds

• The calculator takes the following into account: offer price; mortgage payoff amount; real estate agent commission; title, escrow, notary and transfer tax amounts; and staging and home preparation costs.
• App users can choose to connect to the sponsored agent for more information.

Questions about your home? – Allows consumers to ask real estate agents questions about their local market or any other real estate-related topics

• A sponsored agent appears within the section with a title such as “Trusted Realtor.”
• This section reveals how many questions the agent has answered in the past six months, and provides a series of suggested inquiries.
• Consumers can also type in their own questions.
• From the app interface, it appears as though the agent will receive the consumer’s email address if they participate in this section.

Market Overview – Provides the app user with an estimated median listing price, as well as month-to-month changes

• The app signals whether it is a strong seller’s or buyer’s market, as well as average days on market for a home sale.
• Consumers can choose to ask for a professional valuation. This leads to a contact form for the sponsored agent, also called the Neighborhood Sponsor.
  

Nearby Listings – Allows consumers to view up to five nearby listings and compare details to their own properties

• The comparison page includes the following: a value estimate, an estimate range, three-year value forecasts, a rental estimate and property details.

How Much Will It Cost You?
While the app is growing in popularity, it still falls behind major social media companies such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Therefore, agents must gauge whether the pricing they are quoted will provide enough ROI to sustain the investment.

Nextdoor determines its sponsorship prices based on three factors: the number of Nextdoor members in the agent’s zip code; the median home selling price in that zip code; and how homes are selling in that zip code. These zip codes are limited to a certain number of sponsors, depending on the size of the neighborhood, user engagement and agent demand. For zip codes with multiple sponsored agents, those individuals receive an equal rotation of ads.

While it’s too early to determine if this new feature will provide today’s agents an added marketing edge at an affordable price, the sponsorships are currently charged on a month-to-month basis, allowing agents to cancel at any time.

Liz Dominguez is RISMedia’s associate content editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at ldominguez@rismedia.com.