I don't think anyone will ever build the perfect ranking/rating system for real estate agents, by perfect I mean a system that is all I need to be SURE I chose the best agent. Choosing a good agent will always involve feedback and information from different sources and related to different criteria. Geographic location is important, whether I'm buying or selling a home, I want a local expert. Testimonials are a form of user feedback but as many of you pointed out, it is not hard to "game" the system on most agent referral sites.
That said, I think a simple measure such as "number of recommendations" is slightly more useful than a system that uses only a 5 star rating. Anyone can give themselves a 5 star rating and using a system that uses an email address for verification, if this same agent has 3 or 4 different email addresses, can give themselves 3-4 five star ratings. Even asking your friends to cheat the system for you is going to run dry after a few of your lying cheating best friends anti up their fraudulent reviews. When you see an agent with somewhere between 10 and 40 testimonials, you have to wonder if at least a few of them aren't real. Also, the longer you have been in the business and exceeding client expectations, the easy it will be for you to get to a higher number of clients willing to take the time to visit a site and give you a testimonial.
As I said above, I don't think agent ratings will ever be enough to insure a perfect choice but they will always be a part of the process to help you choose.
For more on this topic, read "The search for the perfect Agent"
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