How We Rank Brokers

Same method, individual scale

Individual brokers are scored with the same published methodology as agencies — a Bayesian weighted star rating plus a 0–100 Trust Score — because a consumer comparing "this agency vs. this independent broker" needs numbers computed the same way. This page states the method as applied to individuals and the points where the individual context matters.

Star rating

A broker's displayed rating is a Bayesian weighted average with a prior mean of 4.0 and a prior weight of 8 reviews:

displayed rating = (8 × 4.0 + sum of review scores) / (8 + number of reviews)

This matters more for brokers than for agencies, because individual brokers typically accumulate reviews more slowly. A broker's first 5-star review moves the display to about 4.11; it takes a consistent record to reach the high 4s. This is by design — a displayed 4.7 on this platform means a sustained record, not a lucky first client. Conversely, a single unfair 1-star review cannot crater a new broker's rating: one 1-star review alone displays as about 3.67, and recovers as genuine reviews arrive.

Reviews of a broker made while at a previous agency remain attached to the broker, because clients hire the person's competence and conduct, which travel with them. The profile shows the affiliation history.

Trust Score

The Trust Score components and weights are identical to agencies:

Component	Weight
Licence verification	20
Identity verification	15
Verified-review ratio	15
Claimed profile	10
Review volume	10
Review recency	10
Responsiveness to reviews	10
Profile completeness	10
Moderation penalty	up to −25

Broker-specific notes:

• Licence verification (20 points) is verified against documentary evidence of the individual's authorisation to act as a real estate intermediary in Panama, per the verification policy. This is the heaviest component because in Panama the licence attaches to the person a consumer actually deals with.
• Identity verification (15 points) for an individual means government-issued ID plus evidence connecting that person to the professional identity on the profile.
• Verified-review ratio (15 points) counts the share of the broker's reviews backed by documentary evidence from the reviewer. Evidence stays private; only the verified mark is public.
• Volume and recency (10 + 10) are calibrated so that an active individual broker can realistically earn full points — the thresholds do not assume agency-scale review counts.
• Responsiveness (10) requires a claimed profile; unclaimed brokers cannot respond to reviews and forgo these points.
• Moderation penalty (up to −25) applies for fake or incentivised reviews, forged documents, or abuse of the flagging system attributed to the broker.

Broker vs. agency comparisons

Where a listing mixes brokers and agencies, both are ranked by the same combination of Trust Score and Bayesian rating. We do not handicap either side; the Bayesian prior already ensures thin review histories are treated cautiously regardless of provider type. A broker's profile links to their current agency's profile and vice versa, and the two are scored independently — an agency's Trust Score is not the average of its brokers', and a broker inherits nothing from the agency's score.

What never affects a broker's rating or rank

• Payment of any kind. Sponsored placements are labelled and have zero effect on scores or organic order (advertising policy).
• Paying to remove reviews — impossible for any provider, at any price (review policy).
• Editorial opinion. Score errors are fixed by correcting data through the corrections process, never by manual adjustment.

Methodology changes

Any change to the prior, weights, or components is announced on this page, dated, and applied to all brokers simultaneously by full recalculation.