Questions Agents Should Ask When Evaluating Property Portals

How many listings are included?

A site’s total number of properties may sound impressive, but do those numbers represent the total market or only a small share? If the site covers multiple countries, pay particular attention to the number of properties displayed for your market.

What type of visitors is the site hoping to attract?

What is the site’s “positioning” in terms of geography (one or more countries or regions) and the type of buyers they hope to attract or properties offered? (Is it primarily a domestic, residential site? Rental properties? Commercial properties? Is it aimed at buyers of second homes and/or investment properties? Etc.)

How much traffic does it receive?

When describing its traffic, does the site quote total visits or unique visitors? Do those visitors represent the primary target audience? If the site is dominated by domestic listings, how much traffic do their international listings receive? Some sites also publish extensive supporting content to attract visitors—but to what extent do these visitors also view listings?

Does the site offer visitors a user-friendly experience?

Is the site designed in a way that’s easy to navigate, conduct searches, save favorites, etc.? Does it include features that support international listings? (translations, currency/space conversion, differences in search conventions, etc.)

What features are offered to agents?

Does the site offer detailed analytics data for your listings? Branded agent profiles? Lead capture? Other important features?

How much does it cost to advertise?

Can you submit a single listing and control how long it’s displayed? Or does the site only offer subscriptions and/or bundled packages? A bundled option may be economical for a brokerage team, but cost-prohibitive for an independent global agent.

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Global Perspectives in Real Estate is a resource for global professionals, aimed at helping them globalize their local markets. Produced bi-monthly, this newsletter serves as a how-to guide and is full of useful and actionable tips. A free subscription is given to all Certified International Property Specialists (CIPS) designees.

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