When brokerage and MLS leaders first came together nearly six years ago to discuss the Broker Public Portal (BPP), I had the good fortune of being in the room. At the time, real estate search was dominated and operated by ad companies, not brokerage or MLS firms.
The Zillows of the world used our listing data to attract consumers and charged us to connect with customers interested in buying the property. Worse, consumers were relying more on what the ad companies had to say than their agent. Ad firms were entrenched in the middle, interfering with the relationship between agents and their clients.
It was time to win back consumers. To do that, we had to win back real estate search.
Today, BPP with Homesnap is one of the real estate industry’s leading pro-agent and pro-consumer movements. Since BPP partnered with Homesnap in 2017, 33 million consumers have downloaded the app. Agents have received more than 2 million free leads, a number that’s on track to double each year.
Reaching and Teaching Consumers
Today, agents are giving consumers what they want: access to the most accurate, trustworthy and timely information. Pulling data solely from the MLS maximizes data quality, and consumers love it!
The BPP with Homesnap provides consumers with the only national search experience that adheres to the “your listing, your lead” rules of the industry’s Fair Display Guidelines. It is an uncluttered and ad-free consumer experience. And guess what? Consumers love that, too!
BPP with Homesnap was the original mobile app to simplify home shopping. Shoppers “snap” a home listed for sale and, like magic, all the listing information appears from either the MLS or public record. Our agents love it because their clients love it—and because it still delivers high-quality leads for free.
The more consumers we reach through BPP with Homesnap, the more opportunities our agents have to teach the world how uniquely “pro-consumer” the choice is.
I’m pretty passionate about the preservation of data and making sure real estate professionals are the conduit to the consumer. People who are not licensed professionals should not be the consumer’s source of real estate data.
More for Consumers
When the Broker Public Portal was formed, our mission was to provide consumers with a better online search experience. The all-new Homesnap Pro—with artificial intelligence and machine learning—takes a next-generation leap forward to help deliver what agents need and what consumers want.
Finally, working with Facebook and Google, BPP with Homesnap will be reaching millions more consumers—more homebuyers and sellers than ever before. Our pro-consumer choice is clear: it’s the one offered by real estate professionals they trust, not by an ad company.
Donna Kreps is president of Residential Real Estate for F.C. Tucker Company, and is a 30-year veteran of the industry and a 27-year veteran of her firm. With more than 1,500 agents statewide and over $3.2 billion in sales, the 100-year-old F.C. Tucker Company is one of the largest independent real estate firms in both Indiana and the nation.
