StreetEasy assembles board for broker feedback

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StreetEasy is making another go at repairing its image with agents — this time in the form of an agent advisory board.

The board is composed of 19 brokers from various firms across New York City — the only market in which the Zillow-owned listing portal operates — who will meet in person once a quarter, giving StreetEasy a formal channel with which to process feedback from the real estate professionals who use the platform.

Board members will primarily offer feedback on partner resources, products, events and programming, according to an announcement from StreetEasy on Thursday, and will also receive early access to StreetEasy products and programs that are in development.

“As part of our continued efforts to provide value to New York City real estate agents and maintain trusted partnerships, we’re excited to introduce the members of StreetEasy’s 2023 Agent Advisory Board!” the company said in the announcement.

Members of the board include Compass’ Alex Antigua, Corcoran’s AnneMarie Alexander, Avi Baron of Oxford Property Group, Douglas Elliman’s Jane Powers and Karen Kostiw of Coldwell Banker Warburg among others.

The board’s roster will change every year, according to The Real Deal.

StreetEasy, which was bought by Zillow in 2013 and has grown to become the leading portal for all of New York City, has launched several well-received programs recently, including the StreetEasy Experts program which allows agents to market themselves as experts on specific buildings and listings, the addition of ShowingTime to the StreetEasy platform and the launch of a suite of products targeting sellers leads.

The portal has drawn the ire of many in the brokerage community in the past with such accusations as it becoming a “de facto MLS.”

Agents have previously taken issue with the portal’s requirement that listings must be posted on the platform within 24 hours of being publicly listed elsewhere, lest their listings be banned — a policy it eventually walked back.

The portals’ relationship with agents became rocky soon after its acquisition by Zillow when it started charging brokers for rental listings and lead generation — features that had previously been free.

Email Ben Verde