You have come to the right place if you are looking for a RealScout review.
This review article that packs all RealScout reviews into one may be the last one you need to read before deciding.
From what I can say already, RealScout is a realtor and broker-friendly property search engine for potential home buyers that can also increase your conversion rates from related platforms such as Zillow and Trulia.
But you might want to find out for yourself what I found. So please, keep reading this article to the end.
What Is RealScout?
With RealScout, prospects, potential clients, or leads can search for homes from an agent’s website.
So, it’s a home search platform that real estate professionals can use as a marketing tool.
Based on MLS data and different search parameters, it displays similar listings to those they’ve already viewed to the respective users.
A problem for agents that RealScout solved is that real estate agents often get caught out during the initial property search.
So, the software ensures the users stay focused on one agent while searching.
This contrasts with property search platforms such as Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com, where realtor bypassing can happen easily.
Not without reason, one of RealScout’s mottos is “Where agents and home buyers search for homes together.”
If you want to learn about further home search engines for buyers and sellers, you can also read my article here.
To further understand the functionality and what RealScout is, you can watch a great walk-through video by a realtor below.
RealScout Features and Benefits
1) Safe Search
Usually, when a potential home buyer goes to Zillow looking for a property and finds a property from a realtor, there is always the risk that they get taken away to the listing of a competing realtor.
Why?
Because Zillow runs ads for several real estate agents, competitors’ ads are often displayed close to a realtor’s listing page on Zillow.
Since RealScout is built with the realtor’s interest in mind, they developed a search they call “Safe Search” to avoid the scenario mentioned above from happening.
Users or potential clients are kept inside a safe area for collaboration; of course, no ads of other agents are displayed there.
2) Rapid Listing Alerts
The Rapid Listing Alerts feature is basically a form of email marketing automation.
Provided you have the contact information (email address), this feature ensures that potential clients looking for properties with particular features receive an automatic email once a property from the real estate agent matches their requirements or desired features.
This email can be customized and personalized for each potential client.
3) Property Comparison
Once you have so many browser tabs open that by clicking on one, you can’t but close it because the “x” icon has basically become the tab, you know that you are possibly overwhelming yourself with browser tabs.
This can happen quite easily to a potential buyer looking for properties and comparing the different benefits and features with each other.
RealScout solves this problem by using machine learning-based property comparisons.
So, when looking for a property, the software shows the selected listings side-by-side and room-by-room and helps compare the different property features.
4) Third-Party App Integration
RealScout by itself integrates with several third-party apps, so you can better tailor the software to your individual needs to be able to, for example, import leads easily.
These are some of the third-party apps that can be integrated:
One that stands out is “Zapier” because Zapier in itself is an app that focuses on bridging between different apps that otherwise don’t integrate.
It’s an app integration app.
And Zapier can connect RealScout with more than 2000 apps.
What if you can’t even find the app you need to integrate with RealScout?
In this case, you can use the API (application programming interface) and have a developer code your customized third-party app integration according to your needs.
5) Homebuyer Demand Data (Buyer Graph)
With this feature, you can access homebuyer demand data by viewing the potential buyer’s search data.
You can break down the listings filtered by most popular, buyer demographics, and geographic areas.
This makes it also possible to see demand trends over time and get to know your target clients.
It also enables real estate professionals to better coordinate with members of the same brokerage firm.
By the way, just recently, a new buyer graph initiative was launched in New England (source).
6) Web and Mobile Friendly
RealScout is user-friendly on multiple devices, on mobile as well as on desktop.
So, potential buyers can use the software on their smartphones, tablets, or computers.
It also features a mobile app for iOS and Android.
How to Search for Homes with RealScout
To learn a bit more about the home search feature from the perspective of potential buyers, I will discuss how a home search can be carried out with RealScout.
First, you need to know that it’s not like Zillow. For a potential buyer to search for homes, he needs an invite from a broker company.
When the potential buyer first logs in, they will start on the “my homes” page.
Here, they will be able to see all the homes that match particular search criteria (depending on the profile the potential client created beforehand).
When you click on the picture of the home or the home address, you can see all the pictures and access more information.
Once clicked, you get to the property detail page, where you find a button for scheduling a showing.
This will bring up a calendar view, where you can select a date when you would like to participate in a showing.
In the same box, you can also message the broker and propose the best times for the showing.
As a side note, I think this could be optimized by connecting directly to a scheduling app to avoid too much messaging back and forth.
Once the potential buyer filled this form, the agent/broker firm receives an email notification.
The next thing a potential buyer can do is leave feedback (1-5 stars) and a comment.
You can also save a home if you like it. It will be saved in a favorites list called “saved homes” for the potential buyer, where other already liked homes may have been saved before.
If the potential buyer doesn’t want to see the home again in the search, it can be hidden by clicking the “Hide” button.
On the top right of each home listing preview, there is the “compare” button.
Provided the potential buyer has already selected at least two homes, these homes will be compared side-by-side.
The software automatically sorts the same type of pictures so you can compare them side-by-side.
Then, there is the “Map Search” tab at the top of the main page, where you can look at homes in a particular geographic area.
You can filter the search results by five criteria: minimum price, maximum price, number of bathrooms, number of bedrooms, and a custom filter.
By clicking on the down arrow on the top right corner of the map, you can also add school locations that will be displayed as orange pins on the map.
The success of a home search also depends on the potential customer who has filled out the account profile information.
The software algorithms need this information to work their magic in assisting in the home search process.
So, in the profile, you can define likes, dislikes, and neutrals.
These are pre-defined tags that the software needs to be able to sort and filter the different listings for the buyer’s search.
In other words, it’s an additional home search filter.
Once this profile is completed with likes and dislikes, all the listings displayed on the main page will automatically show the number of dislikes and likes for each listing.
Another criterion you can add to the profile is the commute options (e.g., work address, schools, etc.).
Once added, it will also show you the distance to your commute places for each listing.
Clients (homebuyers) can search and compare ALL listings on the MLS their agent is connected to.
They are not limited to viewing listings that their agent lists.
In addition, agents on a smaller team can connect their Team MLSID to their data feed, allowing users to see all team listings on the agent’s landing page.
Since text sometimes isn’t the best way to show something, I have included a video below explaining the abovementioned features.
RealScout Pricing
RealScout has two different pricing plans.
The first is for agents and teams, and the second is for brokerages.
The plan for agents and teams costs $39 per agent per month, and the brokerage plan starts at $299.
There is a free 14-day trial for the agent and teams plan and a demo; you can test-drive the app should you want the brokerage plan.
Let’s check now what features you get according to the pricing plan.
| Features | Agents & Teams | Brokerage |
|---|---|---|
| Branded home search portal with MLS data | X | X |
| Property Alerts | X | X |
| Homebuyer activity intelligence dashboard | X | X |
| Unlimited Clients | X | X |
| Home comparison side-by side, room-by-room | X | X |
| Neighborhood and school boundaries (where available) | X | X |
| Team functionality with lead sharing | X | X |
| Website widgets | X | X |
| Social media tools | X | X |
| Select lead ingestion integration | X | X |
| White glove alert migration services | X | X |
| Online coaching and video tutorials | X | X |
| Phone and email support | X | X |
| Broker dashboard | X | |
| Agent management and user analytics | X | |
| Lead distribution | X | |
| Live coaching session (maybe subject to additional charges) | X | |
| Dedicated account manager | X | |
| Planned implementation and training | X |
RealScout Pros and Cons
To get a balanced view of RealScout, let’s also discuss the pros and cons.
The Pros
1) Provided you choose the agent pricing plan, you can get a free 14-day trial without entering your credit card information, and you can cancel anytime.
2) The software can help you improve your lead conversion rate from Realtor.com, Zillow, and Trulia leads (source).
According to RealScout, their customers report a 100% increase in lead conversion once they combine it with the mentioned platforms.
3) Once potential clients have access, they can view accurate MLS listings directly.
4) It’s built with realtors and brokers in mind and protects them from potential buyers bypassing realtors during their property search (something that can quickly happen on platforms like Zillow).
5) You can potentially integrate more than 2000 apps with RealScout.
6) The side-by-side property comparison feature for potential homebuyers can help increase conversion rates.
The Cons
1) It is, in a sense, less “democratic” for potential homebuyers who need an agent to access the home search since the software relies on MLS information that is not accessible to non-agents.
2) The brokerage plan has features that could have also been included in the agent plan, such as additional analytics.
3) The scheduling function for showings could be a bit more sophisticated and connect directly to various scheduling apps.
4 RealScout Alternatives
While not all have the same features as RealScout, there are still several alternatives since they somewhat compete with its features.
1) Homefinder.com
Homefinder.com, not to be confused with iHomefinder, is a property search engine and/or property listing platform for homes for sale and rent in the U.S.
Millions of properties in all states are listed, including properties for rent-to-own homes and foreclosures.
You can also display the search results in a map view
Further Information:
- It gets a monthly traffic volume of 1,530,000 visitors.
- The average monthly traffic per listing is 2.
- As a seller or real estate pro, you pay a flat fee of $39 per property listing.
- According to my article about house search engines for buyers and sellers, assuming a 3% conversion rate, the estimated cost per lead is $726.40.
- The current size of the inventory is 854,917
You can check it out here.
2) iHomeFinder
The most important features of iHomeFinder are:
- The option to add IDX functionality to any existing website
- Polygon search
- Lead forms
- A listing photo gallery that can be displayed anywhere
- CRM integration
Pricing starts at $49.95 monthly, with a $99 to $499 setup fee.
You can check it out here.
3) Homes.com
From a seller’s perspective, homes.com can only be used by realtors.
As a potential buyer, you can still search for properties and look closely at them by checking features, location, type, and price.
As a potential buyer, once you click to see the detailed information, you get further access to information such as:
- The property description
- Detailed information
- A virtual tour (if available)
- The realtors or a listing agent in charge
- A monthly payment calculator
- Mortgage rates
- The price history
- Nearby schools
- Home service providers
- Tour scheduling
- Similar homes in the neighborhood
The platform integrates over 650 MLS IDX listing feeds with more than 4.3 million listings.
You can also purchase agent and broker websites from Homes.com with IDX and Virtual Office Website capabilities.
Additionally, the platform provides lead generation and management services.
Further Information:
- The monthly traffic is 10,690,000 (source)
- In case of a sale, the seller pays a listing fee to the respective agent.
- There is no public information available for homes.com advertising costs related to agents.
- The selling features are exclusively available to realtors
It has an inventory size of 4,300,000.
You can check it out here.
4) Placester
The most important features of Placester are:
- Easy to create a turn-key IDX website with search functionality
- Quick to create blog posts and content
- Social media post scheduling
- Unlimited pre-made landing pages (templates)
- A built-in CRM
In terms of pricing, it has a rather high setup fee of between $125 and $250, and the monthly costs start at $125.
You can check it out here.
6 RealScout Customer Reviews – The Good & Bad
3 Good Reviews
“RealScout enables us to securely share critical market data with member brokerages, allowing us to help consumers make high-quality decisions about their real estate needs (source).”
“With RealScout, our customers are getting a top-tier home search experience, while our agents enjoy the productivity and conversion gains of RealScout’s agent platform (source).”
“Provides a better way for buyers to search, communicate, and succeed with their agent (source)!”
One Bad Review
“It would be much easier to use your product if there was an easily accessible help page(source)!
By the way, you can check RealScout out here.
This article has been reviewed by our editorial team. It has been approved for publication in accordance with our editorial policy.
- Why Real Estate Conversion Rates Are 6-Times Below Average - March 21, 2024
- How to Manage Your Apartment Advertising Campaign - February 23, 2024
- Finding Marketing Channels for Apartment Advertising - February 12, 2024
