I firmly believe the future of search – in all verticals – is less information, from more trusted sources. For instance, in the travel industry, travelers don’t want to spend hours sorting through 50+ reviews about every hotel or activity. They want concise information, from trusted sources – hence the reason we built “welcome kits”.

Real estate is no different.

seattle listing resultsThe listings landscape is beyond noisy. Hundreds, or thousands depending on where they are looking, of listings can be found across hundres of websites. How do buyers find the properties they are truly interested in, without wasting hours and hours searching through irrelevant listings?

I believe real estate search in the future will be powered by YOU, the real estate agent. An entire search experience tailored specifically to one buyer is where the industry is headed. Many agents email and text listings to their clients now, but the experience associated with that is far from ideal for the buyers receiving them. An entire IDX like search experience — but populated with only listings you’ve flagged for them, and push notifications when you want to highlight specific properties for them to look at. A perfect search product would give your buyers the ability to quickly indicate whether they want to go see that listing in person, or an easy “X” to say no, they aren’t interested in that specific listing.

agentfolioI think this trend is what Zillow saw in their acquisition of Buyfolio (now named Agentfolio).

What do you think? Agree or disagree?