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When customers were busy shopping on the largest shopping portal Amazon on Tuesday to explore its Prime day deals, the giant online shopping portal surprised the customers with the disclosure of its new service that would be connected with real estate.
With the introduction of the new service, Amazon is all set to appear as a competitor to the biggies in this field like Redfin and Zillow. The new real estate service is embedded in the website under the section Home and Business service where the users can get quotes right from the professionals for a range of services like gathering new purchases or developing a new technology. Amazon has introduced new option ‘Hire a realtor’ on the web page.
At present, there is no detailed information displayed on the website for the upcoming service. Amazon hasn’t yet elaborated more on the new real estate services. According to reports, Amazon is going to provide a platform to its users to avail many services related to real estate like booking different real estate agents, assemble various elements for purchases, etc.
Amazon still hasn’t disclosed much information and the excitement and suspense still remain amongst the investors. This has resulted in a slight drop in stock prices of Zillow.
According to sources, the National Association of Realtors announced that Amazon hasn’t got the permission to use the word ‘Realtor’ and neither Amazon got in touch with them on this. The word “Realtor” is a trademark of the association. Though using the word “realtor is quite common amongst people, still there is a difference. Basically, the word “Realtor” is a licensed sales person working in real estate sector who solely belongs to the National Association of Realtors.
The web page is removed for time being and in case the web page would have been operational, the legal team of NAR would have approached Amazon to remove the word “Realtor”.
Amazon is a large online store for homeowners to hunt and shop for electricians, house cleaners, local carpenters etc. The new service offered by Amazon on their website “Amazon Smart Home Services Store” helps the users to fix appointments with professionals for free consultation and installations. This will help the users get the right information and right home services. It will help them save money and time that they would otherwise spend calling each and every professional offering home service.
Users can get in touch with company experts directly to solve their queries. These experts will help homeowners set up different products like thermostats, smart lights and a series of smart devices offered by Amazon. These services are available for a referral fee.
Amazon’s interest in connecting with real estate professionals is to enter the horizon of service providers. If Amazon enters into real estate referrals, it will have two competitors in the market- Redfin and Zillow.
Amazon may enter the real estate sector by connecting the seller and home buyers with real estate agents. Initially, there was a buzz about the news, when the Hire Realtor web page appeared on Amazon’s website. Well, there was no list of real estate agents displayed on the website and there was no content related to real estate shown on the website. This left many users and investors confused.
According to sources, possibly Amazon is working towards connecting sellers and home buyers with real estate agents so that it helps the consumers trust the agents and services they will be getting over a period of 2-3 years. It is all about consumers who find real estate agents who are trustworthy and an agent who knows everything about how to sell a house and deliver the right quote. The technology helps sellers and buyers to easily navigate through the entire process of buying/selling a property smoothly.
Citing unethical, incompetent and untrained real estate agents, Amazon as a brand would reflect trust, where people would willingly visit an Amazon based portal to find an endorsed and trusted agent or broker. Moving into the real estate sector will be a challenging exercise for Amazon, however, it will most definitely be a new revolution in real estate search, perhaps the disruption the industry has been waiting for. As Amazon sells almost everything from data hosting to web services, real estate would be an interesting aspect to wait and watch on Amazon portal.
Amazon will open a potential market to the buyers and sellers to buy/sell their properties to the trustworthy people through a reliable agent. They will be able to get quotes from different agents online. This will help the consumers sell/buy the property at best deals. It will bridge the gap between the sellers, buyers and agents. Finding a reliable agent is a daunting task and to connect with the most trusted brand like Amazon to meet trustworthy agents would certainly take away the stress of dealing in property selling or buying.
If you are planning to purchase a new television, you can think of buying a new home too to install your new TV, in case you don’t own a house. Of course, every time an e-commerce platform targets a new market, investors get nervous and Zillow is going through the same situation of anxiety due to the silent disclosure of Amazon on entering the real estate sector.
After the introduction of a new web page by Amazon that displays “Hire a Realtor” with the option to punch in your zip code and showing up the message “Coming soon” is a concern for Zillow as its core business will be affected.
So, if at all Amazon starts connecting buyers, sellers, and agents online, it will change the scenario of real estate industry providing people with the way to indulge in property dealings in a secured manner. Amazon would be able to make it easier for buyers and sellers to get best quotes for the properties and connect with agents that will help you get the in-depth knowledge of current market trend and property pricing. You would certainly end up getting the price you are expecting to buy or sell your property.
