Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®) a key piece of the puzzle for powerhouse brokerage
For Helen Hanna Casey, CEO of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services (No. 4 in sales volume in RISMedia’s 2018 Power Broker Report), providing value is the name of the game for staying ahead of the competition. And she must be doing something right, as the brokerage—sitting at 214 offices and 7,154 agents—continues to grow in size and scope.
“We’re firm believers in the notion that people are with us because they think we add value,” says Casey. One way they do just that is through their longstanding relationship with Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®), the nation’s largest real estate data and reporting website offered exclusively to REALTORS®. RPR serves as a one-stop shop for real estate professionals, with public records and listing information, neighborhood and school data, transaction histories, photos, reports, and more.
“From my vantage point, RPR has been incredibly helpful, as it gives me access to data from other markets so I can see and understand what’s happening in specific areas,” says Casey, underscoring just how important RPR’s Market Data tool is to her day-to-day workflow. The tool allows Casey to create customized market activity reports that include productivity, listings, sales, and marketshare metrics. She can also compile stats across multiple MLSs for a true picture of the company’s performance, comparing company offices to one another, and against the market.
“The research I can conduct within RPR isn’t something I can simply hop online and do,” adds Casey, who explains that the RPR platform is something she had to get her hands on, fueling her decision to bring RPR into the mix from the get-go.
“We’ve been using RPR since its inception,” says Casey. “From the time their team came out to talk to our management team and showed us what they thought the future could be, we were big believers.” In fact, according to Casey, the decision to sign on to be branded with RPR was an easy one.
But what really caught Casey’s attention was that the RPR platform was comprehensive without being overwhelming. “It’s a REALTOR® product, rather than something designed by people that don’t do what we do every day, and it’s geared toward the interest of sales associates and their needs,” adds Casey, making it a central component in the firm’s continued success.
While she can’t say enough about the data that sits at her fingertips, Casey notes that it’s the RPR Broker Tool Set (BTS) that drives value across Howard Hanna on a daily basis.
Nearly 7,200 broker/owners and managers have enrolled in RPR’s Broker Tool Set. The program includes five unique assets used to widen their organization’s sphere of influence through a variety of branding initiatives, timely market data, and a consumer-facing AVM widget. As one of the most-used BTS branding options, brokerages can include up to five custom pages into RPR reports in addition to their individual brand. Another popular feature allows program participants to use the RPR website and reports to promote ancillary services such as mortgage, title, home warranty, insurance and other service companies.
Over 90 percent of broker/owners and managers say company branding is the most valuable of the assets offered in the BTS. The feature allows a brokerage to customize RPR to reflect its brand on its website, app and RPR reports.
“The branding that our sales associates use for their presentations is key,” says Casey. “It’s all been done for us, so our associates don’t have to brand/rebrand material. It also ensures consistency as our brokerage continues to grow and new sales associates come on board.”
Howard Hanna also uses the RPR AVM widget on its website. Casey says it’s been a boon for increasing traffic to www.howardhanna.com, where visitors can find out what their home is worth by entering a street address. “Once an address is entered, two valuations are provided,” says Casey, who notes that RPR’s Realtors Valuation Model® (RVM®) is traditionally the more accurate of the two.
“What’s being offered right now is great,” says Casey. “You have to take the time to look at the platform, see the capabilities that are there, and play with it yourself, as this is the only way you can find out how it works for you.”
For more information, please visit www.narrpr.com.
Paige Tepping is RISMedia’s managing editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at paige@rismedia.com. For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.
