HAR’s new Real Estate Community will provide a way for consumers (more than 178,000 active HAR.com registered users) to interact with REALTORS® (more than 22,000 members) online.
The Real Estate Community will serve as a great way for members to build relationships with consumers by sharing their knowledge. Consumers can become members of the Real Estate Community and have their questions answered by other community members to become more knowledgeable about the Houston real estate market.
How it Works
Asking Questions
Community members can ask other community members questions about anything that interests them. When asking a question, you will be prompted to designate a topic/category to make it easier for other community members to find and answer it.
Providing Answers
Community members can provide answers to open questions posted by other community members. Your answer to a question may be chosen as the best one, earning you extra points and increasing your user level (more about that in a moment).
Questions remain open until a “Best Answer” has been chosen, at which point the question is resolved and answers may no longer be posted. Questions can also be flagged as “Favorite” which are stored in a list for quick reference.
Points System and Levels
To encourage participation and reward the best answers, the Real Estate Community has a system of points and levels. The point system allows everyone in the Real Estate Community to recognize how active and helpful a member has been. The number of points you receive depends on the specific action you take.
Levels
Levels are another way to keep track of how active you and others have been. The more points you accumulate, the higher your level. Members of the Real Estate Community start at Level 1, but can earn points to increase their level of participation to Level 5. A user’s level is denoted by a badge on their photo and profile and their total number of points.
Your Participation is Appreciated and Rewarded!
Featured as Top Active Agents
REALTORS® who actively participate in the Real Estate Community are rewarded by being promoted as the “Top Active Agents.” Active agents are members who regularly post their own questions and answer questions posted by other members of the Real Estate Community. The most active agents in a specific category are also promoted.
Like: “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”
Community members can provide feedback for answers by either giving the answer a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down.” The originator of a question can also choose a “best” answer for their question, awarding the community member that provided the answer with 10 points.
Community Guidelines
In an effort to maintain the quality and integrity of content in the Real Estate Community, we have established a set of community guidelines. Members of the community can report abuse if they feel that a question or answer violates the community guidelines. The content is then reviewed by HAR staff. HAR.com reserves the right to remove content which, at our sole determination and discretion, is deemed inappropriate or violates Real Estate Community guidelines.
Look for updates about the development of the Real Estate Community in upcoming editions of the 5 Minute REALTOR®.
For more information, please visit www.har.com/community.
Taqi Rizvi is the HAR Chief Technology Officer. He may be reached at (713) 629-1900 ext. 252.
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A Message from Margie
HAR is known for many things, but technology is at or near the top of the list. This month, we are previewing a couple of new technology features that will be coming soon.
