Even as the global real estate market grapples with rising inflation, US tailwinds are bolstering real estate agents ranking website RateMyAgent (ASX: RMY). The Company is partnering with US real estate listings website Realtor.com, thus gaining access to a user base of over 100 million.
RateMyAgent has snowballed in the US, boasting over 235,000 agents on its platform. There are now five times more US agents on the platform than in Australia.
CEO of RateMyAgent, Michael Davey, said, “Our integration with one of the largest real estate platforms in the US adds real value for agents. The integration will also drive brand visibility for RMY as it will enable over 100 million users to see agent reviews which we link to each transaction.”
Besides the Realtor.com win, RMY has established other US partnerships with MLS (multiple listing services) and significant brokerages. It now gets data feeds for over 1.1 million agents. Partnerships like these validate the Company’s US growth strategy.
RateMyAgent provides reviews, ratings and rankings for real estate agents—sort of like a virtual portfolio of real estate agents. It has a million verified reviews globally attached to property sales, ensuring that the information provided is unique to the agent and from a genuine property seller or buyer.
Over 80% of sellers contact only one agent, and the most integral factors in an agent are their reputation, honesty and trustworthiness. Checking out their reviews is the perfect way to ascertain if the agents meet the criteria.
Given that, in FY22, the RMA group posted a recurring revenue of $15.2 million, growing at 38% year on year (YoY). Its US revenue has been increasing at 282% YoY, while the ANZ market is lagging at 26%.
In the US, its revenues are up 119% in Q2 FY23 compared to Q2 FY22. Reviews are up 118%, with group subscription revenue up 22%. Overall revenue for the quarter amounts to $4.3 million.
While the business model is pretty simple, the Company has recently made some changes to monetise the platform and optimise its earnings. One such venture is Promoter, a feature that lets agents promote themselves. The ANZ Promoter market revenues increased to $900k in 2Q FY23.
Moreover, the US 14-day free trial converts 80% to paid subscriptions. RMA also recently raised $5.5 million in an entitlement offer to existing shareholders. It also introduced new pricing tiers: free, lite, pro and premium, giving agents and customers access to various RMA services.
From the looks of it, people are all for those extra services. In FY22, paid subscriptions increased by 37% to over $10.5 million.
Realtor.com is the US’s second most visited real estate listing website as of 2021, with over 100 million monthly active users.
The integration of the platforms went live on February 15, 2023, meaning agents can automatically send reviews from RMY to Realtor.com. This, along with the ability to stream to Google, will help agents build their brand, trust and reputation. Doing so will add significant value to agents who want to share their reviews across multiple platforms.
Chairman David Williams said, “We expect the added value this brings to agents on the RMY platform should enhance agents’ willingness to pay for our services.”
In a challenging real estate environment, it helps to have an agent you can trust, and people are even willing to pay for those qualities.
Alinda is a Business Reporter for The Sentiment
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