I was searching "the net" this evening and stumbled on another real estate blog serving the Seattle area. The post I started reading discussed the business model of some companies that specialize in lead generation from the internet.
That article reminded me of another article I read on Realty Times in regards to Referral and Lead Generating companies.
What I found humerous is that right as I finished reading the articles I checked my email and this is an email I had received from a company that I know nothing about..
Hello,
I am a consultant with AgentConnect, a division of Reply Inc. We connect homebuyers and sellers with qualified agents. I am trying to reach you because I have a number of clients in your area looking to be put in touch with a qualified agent. If you are open to accepting new clients please give me a call back,or email me with the zip codes you service, so I can discuss the specifics with you.
As for the cost, we do not take a percentage of the closing. Instead, we charge a flat monthly rate with a guaranteed number of prescreened buyers/sellers per month who have requested to be put in touch with an agent in the area.
Keep in mind that these leads will go to one exclusive agent, so they are time sensitive and I’m trying to lock down the territories very soon.
Warmest regards,
Obviously, this is an email (a.k.a. SPAM) sent to their database of agent emails they have accumulated by scouring the internet. What makes an agent "qualified" in their eyes? Just responding and paying their fee?
By the earnings discussed in the Realty Times article linked above it is blatantly obvious that a very large number of agents, brokers, and consumers are using these services. Agents and brokers who pay for these services are increasing the cost of doing business, which in turn gets passed on to their clients. I don’t see how any type of "savings" can exist for real estate consumers within business models such as these.
Added (as I thought more about it ):
I’d like to know if anyone has used any services like this and what were your results? Were you happy with the agent provided? Did you have a successful transaction? Did you view them as "qualified" and competent? Would you prefer a company that offered a selection of agents to choose from or a company such as the one who emailed above that has territories "locked in" by certain agents?
I haven’t done much research into comapnies like these. I receive those emails quite often though, usually multiple times a day. All from companies I’ve never heard of before nor had prior discussions with. I can tell you however that the cost of having a custom built website is cheaper, by far, then what some of these companies charge for participation.
For more information on Lead Generating companies, check out what this agent says about Home Gain Leads
3 Comments
With NAR just realeasing their “2005 NAR Survey of Home Buyers and Sellers” explaining that now 77% of buyers use the net… the net definitely needs to be taken seriously.
However that doesn’t mean to say you have to but into anything – there’s some BIG scams going on out there…
I have tried almost every one of them… most I have cancelled within a month. The best I have found (if you want to buy) is assuredmarketing.com (I didnt put in a link – I’m not affiliating) These guys will give you real time leads by the 100’s – for as little as $10-12/lead. They are only buyer leads however.
BUT the absolute best way I have discovered, after going through pretty much every company out there, is to study how all these other companies are doing it and design your own site like theirs as you mentioned. Some of these companies have made an absolute killing in recent years – H***gain especially have literally ripped off the unknowing realtor community, (H***values is also pretty costly!)
H***gain charges something like 25-30% refferal fee for an internet generated lead!!!! That’s insane and I know those guys are sitting there laughing all the way to the bank! It’s utter extortion, (knowing now how easy it is to generate internet leads) I’m sorry for all those people Realtors who were sucked into it!… Their golden days are numbered however fr sure!
Hi Scott
Thanks for stopping by
I agree the net should be taken seriously by all real estate agents. However, I do find that a very large percentage of agents I have come across have not changed with the times. I do believe though that as more of the younger generations enter the field, who already posess the computer skills needed, they will start to give the lead generating companies monopolizing the search results a run for their money in local areas.
For example, just in my local area if I do a search for burlington county real estate on google http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=burlington+county+real+estate there are only 6 sites with individual agent sites listed, 3 of listings however are my own. Page 2 of the search is filled with internet advertising companies, the large real estate companies, and newspapers, no agent web sites. In my own office there are around 120 agents. For the county, there are probably a couple thousand that service the area. Thats really only a handful that have figured out how to compete against these monster companies.
Unfortunately, nothing with the search engines is guarenteed. Even the handful of agents who made it to the top of the search results today, may not be there tomorrow. So, it will always be a constant effort for the agents to compete against and try to stay ahead of the companies with a strong internet presence. However, I do believe they should. I think any real estate consumer would rather deal with a person who knows an area and can help them, rather than an internet company who is just going to sell their information.
Btw, have a real estate horror story you’d like to share?
I had used Househunt.com for a little less than a year. Large setup fee. Nice website, which received an average of 100 hits per month, which are routed to your cell via text message within seconds of capturing the lead. Seemed pretty wonderful, except these leads more often than not had bad telephone numbers, non-existent email addresses, or somebody’s kids were messing around on the internet. I did, during that time, have three completed transactions, but that barely covered the $400/mo. plus setup fee. I did cancel after 7 months, paid a penalty just to get out. Still looking for a viable verified lead company, anyone know one?