For years, agents and brokers have been asking me when this type of search option would be available. That’s because until now, their clients were forced to search for homes within artificial boundaries that were defined by the MLS or zip codes, which in many cases was far too broad a search. With Neighborhood Wizard, consumers can draw their own boundaries right on the map and only search for homes within that area; it gets rid of everything else that is not relevant to a person’s home search. Furthermore, Neighborhood Wizard provides agents with the ideal opportunity to set up a drip marketing campaign with their clients by signing them up for Home Delivery. Every email is branded to the agent which keeps them top of mind with their clients.
Neighborhood Wizard is the continuation of a long line of innovations that John L. Scott has been the first in the nation to offer consumers. Starting back in 1995, we were one of the first real estate companies in the nation to post a public website with property listings and photos. Around this same time, we were credited with leading the nation in agent connectivity by providing every JLS agent/broker with an internet homepage and email address. In 1998, we were one of the first in the nation to feature 360-degree virtual tours. There soon after John L. Scott launched Internet Property Link which assigns every property listing with its own web address. For all of this, John L. Scott has received numerous recognitions, including the Inman Innovator Award for most innovative real estate company in the nation.
Last year, John L. Scott partnered with Microsoft to premier our High-Definition Home Search with Virtual Earth mapping and Bird’s Eye imagery. Immediately following this, we also became the first real estate company in the nation to post comparable sold home information. As of right now, comparable sold home information is only available in Western Washington through the Northwest Multiple Listing Service; however we are in communication with other MLSs from around the region about making this information available in all areas that we do business.
The public’s reaction to Virtual Earth, comparable sold property information, and Neighborhood Wizard has been resoundingly positive. Immediately following the launch of Neighborhood Wizard, feedback from agents/brokers started flowing in as well. One such agent is John L. Scott broker, Kathy Quick, from the West Hills, Oregon office. Kathy tells a great story about a woman she met at an open house more than a year ago. Kathy set up a Property Tracker account for the woman, but had little other contact with her. During that year-plus period of time, Kathy’s client would passively search for homes, but often became frustrated because the parameters were always too broad for her needs. On June 7, she received the Neighborhood Wizard email blast from John L. Scott and described the experience of using it as an “epiphany”; she could finally narrow her search only to homes that were close to her work place. Within a day, Kathy’s client made an offer on a $600,000 home—and it was accepted.
Kathy’s story perfectly illustrates why John L. Scott continuously strives to remain at the forefront of technology. Each new innovation that we launch helps to deepen the agent/client relationship. And it draws new clients to us by driving consumers to our website. We know it works because of stories like Kathy’s and because of the continued increase in web traffic that we see on JohnLScott.com. According to Hitwise, a leading online competitive intelligence service, JohnLScott.com consistently ranks in the top 10 in the nation for real estate company website traffic. John L. Scott also boasts one of the highest visits per agent in the nation with an average of 212 user visits per agent. Each month, JohnLScott.com receives more than one million visits and nine million listing views, and in several instances, JohnLScott.com is out pacing national real estate firms that are much larger in both size and productivity.
As online home searches and client self-education become standard in the real estate industry, I'm proud to say that John L. Scott’s commitment to technological innovation firmly positions us as the preferred online destination for homebuyers in the Northwest, and an inspiration to real estate professionals around the nation.
