StreetAdvisor to launch Local Voices
Australian startup, StreetAdvisor will announce tomorrow the launch of their new “Local Voices” platform for real estate brokers, a service “aimed directly at helping US real estate companies leverage their unique knowledge of communities to connect with online consumers.” Co-Founder Jason Spencer tells AGBeat they will first launch with RE/MAX Metro Atlanta and Barbegelata Real Estate in San Francisco where brokers will be able to publish and share local insights through a simple web-based application while consumers can browse neighborhoods on a broker’s site and pose questions about specific areas for agents to answer.
The emphasis on connecting consumers with Realtors’ local knowledge is intriguing and overdue, and with the simplicity of the search function, and the high quality aesthetics, it is easy to see how consumers would flock to the “Local Voices.” Additionally, because the service is licensed specifically to brokerages, the quality of answers should be higher than forums wherein agents from around the globe answer questions arbitrarily to jockey for points.
The neighborhood review and Q&A service for real estate brokerage sites seeks to build traffic as well as “deepen [agents’] connection to online consumers, not leveraging them,” the company says. By using the Local Voices service, real estate brokers, franchises and broker networks can white-label the StreetAdvisor platform to match the look and feel of their website and create a seamless user experience. StreetAdvisor says they have perfected this process through its partnership with RealEstate.com.au, Australia’s largest property portal.
Wealth of local information inside every brokerage
“There is a wealth of local information inside every real estate brokerage. Agents know their neighborhoods intimately. But, to date, real estate companies have not had an easy way to use this knowledge to build an online audience,” said Jason Spencer, co-founder of StreetAdvisor. “Local Voices unlocks all of that intellectual capital and puts it to work in an environment the broker controls.”
“Local Voices couldn’t have been easier to set up,” said Randy Chavers, Director of Internet Marketing for RE/MAX Metro Atlanta. “We’ve always had listings on our website, but we knew we wanted to take the experience one step beyond our competitors. We are now prepared to help our customers answer the question, what is it like to live here?“
Rates range from $99 to $599 per month based on the broker’s site traffic. Brokers at the upper end of the price spectrum will be able to serve their own ads within Local Voices and will have access to the Local Voices API so neighborhood reviews and answers can be integrated throughout their website. Additional brokerage partnerships are pending and will be announced shortly.
In 2012, with the rising noise level of social media and the wide variety of choices consumers have online, companies are now seeking ways to get local rather than to be ubiquitous and the trend is to bring everything back home. StreetAdvisor’s “Local Voices,” and companies like Loku are placing emphasis on what is happening in a consumer’s back yard and the timing with the overwhelmed and shifting web culture couldn’t be better.
Click the image below to see Local Voices in action on StreetAdvisor:
