Our Methodology

Here at The Close, we evaluate a wide variety of tools and services for real estate agents, team leaders, and brokers. While our individual review articles and buyer’s guides often include more specific information about how we grade different products and offerings, here’s a high-level view of our methodology and ethos when it comes to helping readers achieve their highest ambitions in the real estate industry.

• We’re real estate pros: Our team at The Close has decades of real estate experience, and we tap into that experience regularly in our analysis of products and services that are targeted to agents and brokers. Some criteria that we use to analyze offerings are:
  • Pricing
  • Features
  • Integrations with other systems and software
  • Ease of use
  • Design and interface
• We’re reader first: We know that no company can possibly be the best fit for everyone. That’s why, when we’re creating content to help agents and brokers level up their business, we take into account more specific needs. You might see that we recommend a less expensive tool to new agents, whereas a team leader might need something more expensive that includes more options. The same goes for specific niches or geographic areas. 
• We’re independent: We do not accept money, services, or products in exchange for positive reviews or product placement. We do work with a select group of software companies and service providers that we feel provide real value for our readers. We have affiliate partnerships with these companies and make money when we feature their products on the site. But none of the companies you see in our articles have the opportunity to influence, steer, or affect our editorial copy. Furthermore, all paid posts are labeled as “sponsored content” across the site (you’ll see it right next to the date at the very top of the article if that’s the case). To learn more about this, check out our editorial policy. 
• We’re part of a community: We value feedback from readers. Whether it’s via email, comments on our articles, reader feedback surveys or our private Facebook group, we hear from agents and brokers every day. We take your comments into account when making recommendations. To learn more about this dialogue, take a look at our commenting policy.