Verified Reviews
A recent peer reviewed study showed that 62% of online purchasing decisions are influenced by product reviews and ratings.
This has lead to the development of a black market where shady realtors can purchase reviews of their services in order to get you to work with them. So how can you be sure that the reviews your realtor shows you are valid? The answer: verified reviews.
What are verified reviews?
Verified reviews are reviews that the Immovision platform confirms came from a real client who actually used the service or completed a transaction. Unlike anonymous or unverified reviews, where anyone can leave feedback, verified reviews require some form of proof or validation.
The purpose of a verified review is to reduce fake reviews and give buyers and sellers a more trustworthy picture of an agent’s performance.
How do Immovision’s verified reviews work?
Every review that is presented on Immovision undergoes the following 4 checks:
- Transaction Verified Through the Quebec Land Register
- Identity Verification of the Reviewer
- Detection of Suspicious Patterns
- Conflict-of-Interest Screening
Transaction verified through the Quebec Land Register
Once a buyer and seller agree to transact, both parties sign the deed of sale in the notary’s office. At this exact moment, the ownership transfers from seller to buyer. However, at this moment, this is only recorded on the deed of sale.
After the signing, the notary electronically submits the deed of sale to the Quebec Land Register (Registre foncier du Québec). The deed is then indexed under the property’s cadastral number. A cadastral number is like a permanent ID assigned to that specific lot on an official map.
For all reviews, Immovision request the name and property details. Immovision then use the address to find the cadastral number and the cadastral number to look up details in the Quebec Land Register. This allows our team to verify that the transaction actually took place.
Identity verification of the reviewer
When submitting a review, we request that the reviewer provides a email or phone number. We then send them a confirmation link, to verify that they are a real person. Next, we ask the person submitting review to provide their full name and the address of the property involved in the transaction. We then check the Quebec Land Register to verify that the transaction and the person involved in the transaction are connected.
Detection of suspicious patterns
We automatically scan the reviews on our website, to check for suspicious patterns in the reviews.
Studies from Cornell University, major platforms like Yelp and Amazon, and work inspired by psychologists like Robert Cialdini all show consistent red flags in unreliable reviews. There are that: they tend to be generic, overly positive, lack transaction-specific detail, and appear in suspicious timing clusters. By contrast, authentic reviews typically include grounded, practical details that reflect a real transaction, not emotional storytelling gimmicks or copy-and-paste praise.
Using these insights, we examine each review for linguistic authenticity, natural timing, and consistency with real transaction records. When we find suspicious reviews, a member of the Immovision team will call the person who left the review and ask to complete a second like of verification checks.
This approach allows us to filter out low-quality or suspicious reviews while keeping the process easy and accessible for legitimate clients.
Conflict-of-interest screening
Here we are looking for indicators that the transaction really took place between the broker and the client. For instance, let’s say that a person leaves a review for a friend who is also a realtor. The review clearly stats the the realtor helped them to buy a house. We need to verify that this statement is correct.
To do this, we will check the details of the transaction in the Quebec Land Register and cross reference the timing of this data and the details included in the review with data from the brokers MLS. This means that if, the person leaving the review has no relationship with the broker, then we will know.
Negative reviews
In a situation where a realtor fails to help a client either buy or sell a property, this review is still allowed on ImmoVision. These reviews are marked as unverified, they are human moderated and realtors can respond and contest an unfair negative review. However, if the reviewer can provide proof of their transaction or experience, the review will be updated to a verified.
Unverified reviews
Immovision allows you to review a broker, even if the the broker has not actually supported you in the transaction. This is to allow a colleagues, friend, or family who know the broker very well, to review a broker. However, the review will be marked as unverified since it does not pertain to an actual transaction.
Buyers and sellers should not discount unverified reviews. This is because they can still provide useful insights about the broker’s professionalism, communication style, responsiveness, and general approach to clients. This is the case even if the reviewer did not complete a transaction. However, when reading an unverified review, you should bear in mind that this review comes not from someone who actually did business with this broker.
Final remarks
This rigorous process of verified reviews ensures that buyers and sellers can trust the reviews they see on Immovision. This allows you to make an even more informed decisions when selecting a realtor.
To find a local broker, with the highest level of skills for your project, you can use our Immovision Broker Matching Tool.