(Update, this is an april fools joke. You can see AGBeat cover it well here)

Announcing the launch today, Monday, for LostListings.com!

When Agents Lose, You Win!

A bold new service that goes where no other brokerage firm has gone before! Revolutionizing the industry and furthering transparency! Further showing why Frank won Inman New's 2009 Innovator of the Year award, video).

Background: Times are tough! Our firm, Frankly Real Estate Inc, is finding that we are losing more and more listing appointments. Whether it be sellers looking to do it themselves FSBO (see post Save $20k? Selling By Owner) or just picking cheaper, more local or more knowledgeable alternatives. We know we are great, but not everyone else is agreeing with us. So we had to look forward to a new revenue model. At least to help us cover the loss in gas and time wasted.

The idea came from a recent real estate class. The question was:

What happens if an agent meets with a seller and finds out secret details of that home for sale?And then if that agent is not hired, but they have a buyer that wants to buy that home. Can they share the seller's secrets? To whom is the fiduciary duty?

Turns out the Fiduciary Duty is 100% to the buyer client (assuming they are a signed client with an Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement, don't miss that blog post!)

So that got me thinking. That data on the seller... that is damn valuable. An agent that loses a listing might have this data, and could sell it at auction on LostListings.com, such as:

• When a new listing is hitting in a hot neighborhood. Value= $300-$5,000
• Information about a patched up leaky roof. Value= $200-$2,000
• Almost broken furnace. Value=$5,000
• Information about a rodent, radon, oil leak problem. Value=$500-$25,000
• Foundation crack being covered up or hidden. Value= $30,000
• The Seller's desire to sell quickly to avoid foreclosure and willingness to take $25,000 under market value! Value= $25,000

What would you pay for information on a hidden $30,000 defect? Now on LostListings.com, unsuccessful listing agents can sell their acquired information at auction to either buyers directly, or to buyer's agents.

This is currently only in the DC area, and soon we plan on launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise $350,000 to launch this idea nationwide. Will you join us? I hope you will watch the video and check out the site. If you find it as revolutionary as I do, please leave a comment below on whether you think this is brilliant, won't work, might be unethical, will work, etc.

Let's start a conversation. Oh and share this with friends! Tweet it, Facebook Like it, snail mail it to your relatives if you need to!

Please don't pass judgment until a) you have watched the video and b) you have entered the site to see how we do this in a repectful manner.

Written by: Frank LLosa Esq.

Broker FranklyRealty.com

Owner FranklyMLS.com

Owner LostListings.com