Trulia’s recent announcements
Trulia announced last week the launch of Instant Leads to instantly connect Realtors with consumers over text and phone, which was followed by their launch today of Social Search which is one of the more intelligent uses of the social graph we’ve seen thus far.
Trulia’s Head of Communications, Ken Shuman tells us that Social Search “is a simple way for consumers to discover trusted real estate professionals by searching their Facebook social network for agents their family, friends and acquaintances recommend.”
Speculation of commission rebating
In between the two announcements, we speculated that the Realtor recommendations were coming, as Trulia had hired former CEO of AgentLeaf.com, a Realtor rating site that offered commission shopping. We speculated that the company was either acquired or the talent was acquired, but that the ratings and commission shopping options could be coming soon to Trulia.
Shuman told us today that definitively, Trulia will never participate in a commission shopping feature that would allow consumers to search featured agents willing to rebate commissions, and noted that they are not a brokerage, thus cannot get involved in commissions offered between brokers.
Matthew Holder has confirmed that “it was a decision [he] made to shut down” the AgentLeaf.com company and that it is now “dead in the water.” Holder now works in the business services division of Trulia.
Although Trulia says they did not acquire the site or any part of the site, nor are its features coming along, it is still a win for Trulia to have hired someone to their business services team that has experience and knowledge of the real estate industry. The hire could boost agent products in the future, and Shuman said Holder has brought “a lot of energy and excitement” to the company. Holder sought out employment at Trulia, noting it is a win for him to work for the innovative team.
