Australian Portal Homely Partners with Leading Brokerage Raine & Horne

Australian challenger portal Homely has announced a partnership deal with one of the country's leading brokerage firms Raine & Horne.

The deal is referred to in a Homely press release as a 'sponsorship' with the Melbourne based real estate site confirming to Online Marketplaces that its partnership with Raine & Horne will serve to:

• Further learning to keep agents engaged and retained within the industry and nurture in-agency morale
• Allow Homely to show support at an executive level to principals and directors who run franchise offices
• Offer Homely the chance to speak directly with these agents at events and develop relationships and have a presence at these events

Although in most real estate markets the customer-provider relationship precludes any sponsorship deals between portals and agencies, in Australia, where the vendor is responsible for portal fees, such deals are relatively common. These partnerships generally provide financial support for ongoing education, training and events for agents at the sponsored agency rather than any sort of listings syndication or any explicit deal to push a portal's services to vendors.

According to topfranchise.com, Raine & Horne is counted among the top 10 franchises in Australia with some 300 branches across the country. As for Homely, the challenger portal launched in 2013 by brothers Jason and Adam Spencer is one of a chasing pack of Australian real estate marketing sites taking an ever-greater slice of a market dominated by REA Group and Domain.

Homely's Head of Industry, David Webb said of the partnership:

"There’s never been a better time for vendors to take advantage of favourable market conditions. At Homely, we believe in making advertising costs more affordable for vendors and agents. Raine & Horne is an exceptional partner for us. They share a commitment to delivering the best outcome for their clients."

One of Homely's points of difference in the market is its neighbourhood and street reviews which agents can contribute to and further their image as local experts, a benefit that Raine & Horne CEO Andrew Brien pointed out in a joint press release, saying:

“This sponsorship will help us continue to promote Homely’s unique platform to more agents and consumers, while empowering Raine & Horne’s agents to be recognised as the experts within their local markets.”

The Raine & Horne deal is not the first of its kind that Homely has entered into this year with the firm tying up an agreement with the Professionals Real Estate Group in March. Homely has also made the news this year for agreeing to a listings syndication deal with fellow challenger property portal operator REIWA.