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Housevalues, Homes.com, Homegain, Trulia, Zillow, Lets Just Give Them All Our Customers,

And then buy them back from them for a nice 30% referral fee, why not, we did not have to work to get them, all we had to do was write interesting blog post after interesting blog post, answer one dumb question after another on Trulia or Zillow, ... You get the point!!

With the recent minority possition taken by Housevalues in Active Rain there has been lots of discussion about what benefit there is for Housevalues to do such a thing. I think that the consensus is that it amounts to 60K+ REALTOR membership at Active Rain creating a stronger and stronger link partner for Housevalues in the long run.

This got me thinking, if blogging on Active Rain is Aiding Housevalues, Isn't blogging and otherwise providing content such as answering questions, Blogging, and such on sites such as Active Rain, Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com and other similar sites, I think Homes.com even has their blogging/whatever platform as well. Anyway run on there but anyway, all those companies are competing with us directly for the customers we want. If we help them by providing them the unique content they need to attract our customers, aren't we giving them for free what they need to win the battle for our customers, just so that they can sell them back to us or whoever in our marketplace is willing to pay for them??

Greg Nino I think you miss the point, you don't have any control over these companies, tomorrow housevalues could say to you, in addition to the monthly fees (which are Crazy High) we want a 35% referral fee.
The point is these companies are your competitors not your friend. In the long run they are like a drug dealer, they want to get you hooked on their product, and make sure you cannot live without them, so they can squieze every last cent out of you that they possibly can, after all, once they have you at that point, and have used you and others like you to dominate the airwaves, and dominate the search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL... you and most everyone else will have no choice but to pay them what ever amounts they demand.
To me it is now bright and clear that they more fit the Drug Dealer Model then service provider!!

James Boyer REALTOR, Serving all the Midtown Direct Real Estate Markets including the Summit NJ Real Estate market.

What are your thoughts??

Posted by New Jersey Real Estate James Boyer Morris, Essex & Union County NJ Realtor on 01/29/2008 10:41 AM

Comments (47)

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47 Comments on Housevalues, Homes.com, Homegain, Trulia, Zillow, Lets Just Give Them All Our Customers,

JAN

2008

Hi James,

Great post/thinking here. I love your question. Before I became a subscriber to House Values I used to think the same way. I spent thousands of dollars over the course of 2005 with click words, ad words google positioning, extra websites and all sorts of Internet stuff to "get leads" I found myself working several hours a day just on bidding & positioning. The volume of leads I received was decent, but never a "guaranteed minimum." At the time, I had no contact management system, support, tools or methods to improve what I was doing except what I read online. Online leads are still a relatively new concept.

House Values spends a ton of money advertising. Very easy to understand. They have millions of dollars and can afford to advertise to send me prospects. I am guaranteed prospects where as before, I hoped! They have the best tools imaginable. House Values doesn't work for everyone. Internet leads require patience, persistence & skill, a trait that takes time; one that is learned using the system.

Many hands make light work. Let the companies be companies. They need us as bad as some of us need them. Their survival depends on ours. They have resources, management, capital and so much all designed to send us leads.

I think you get the point....

James, My thoughts are that you are right. I actually received not one but two emails from Housevalues today trying to solicit my business. I had never received one before. But being a listing Broker I really don't mind getting my info out there. I don't buy leads. Since I have listings I already know where my pay is coming from. Buyers agents are certainly in a worse position.

James,

I think this is a good question. I myself am not overly concerned with these uninformed sources of information. They have not been to the area that I represent and it is easy to show a seller or buyer why these sources of information on properties are not valid competitors for a real agent. All we have to sell is service and knowledge. The tougher the market conditions the more these skills are needed.

The point is these companies are your competitors not your friend. In the long run they are like a drug dealer, they want to get you hooked on their product, and make sure you cannot live without them, so they can squieze every last cent out of you that they possibly can, after all, once they have you at that point, and have used you and others like you to dominate the airwaves, and dominate the search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL... you and most everyone else will have no choice but to pay them what ever amounts they demand.

To me it is now bright and clear that they more fit the Drug Dealer Model then service provider!!

James - As a VA who provides marketing services for our realtor clients, I have to say that I understand what you're saying but have to agree with Greg. Every avenue isn't for every realtor. Of the 60K+ realtors who are members of Active Rain, not all of them are actively blogging and participating here. That's because the work involved here is not for everyone. Some people will really get into it. Some just won't. For others, the idea that they will get a set amount of leads for a set amount of money is very appealing. It simplifies the work effort. Not only that, there is also a happy medium of realtors who do a little blogging for business but also get leads from HouseValues or HomeGain. I think it all boils down to what kind of marketing campaign do you want to participate in to grow your business. The software that allows agents to manage their contacts is no threat to me because someone needs to actually implement the software for it to work. The tools of the realtor's trade (blogging, lead generation services, etc.) are no competition to the realtor because someone needs to actually implement them in order to make them work. HouseValues is nothing without realtors to service the leads. Blogging is nothing without the person behind it, writing the posts.

~Renae - Market 4 Real!

James,

You rushing to judgement that House Values is an uninformed source of information displays that you are very uninformed.

At the other end of a House Values lead is a live human being commonly referred to as a Real Estate agent.

Do you get Internet leads from anywhere? Your website? AR, Your local association? If so, would you consider yourself to be informed and competitive with agents in your market? What makes you & Subscribers to House Values different? I can't speak for Zillow or the other companies, but I can & will for House Values.

Behind my leads comes service and knowledge. 24/7 customer service, that's what I promise to all clients. I also have achieved goals that other agents who have been in business much longer than I have not - because of House Values. 17 of my current listings are from House Values. 6 in escrow all six House Values Related. 27 thousand more reasons why I love House Values. Close to 900% return on my investment in the last 24 months.

Before blanketing a concept with rude objections think about what your assuming next time. Uninformed? Please.

I love it when I go to a listing and there are 7 binders on the sellers table. All 7 have their pretty faces on magazines, newsletters and postcards promptly displayed in their presentation. I chuckle when I see these. I remind the seller that Ego Feel Good Advertising pleases one person and usually just one - The Listing Agent.

You see, Internet leads are not glamorous James. Consider them the blue collar way of making money. Statistics do not lie about consumers first search - ONLINE. Internet leads are a crucial component of every successful agents portfolio.

I would have to agree with Renae. I run a referral procurement service and compete directly with companies like HouseValues and HomeGain, etc. These companies, mine included, rely on agents to make our product successful. We need you to succeed (as a whole) in order to be a success ourselves. Have you ever had McDonalds screw up your drive thru order? (Chances are, thats a yes...) Did that mean you have never been through a drive-thru since? (Chances are, thats a no...) There will always be instances where individuals are not happy with these types of companies. But, there is an obvious need for them...and a need for the to be successful as a whole...just like drive-thrus.

James,

Do you pay for Internet leads from anyone? If not, I will understand your position more. Did you really refer to House Values as a "drug dealer?" Strong & unfounded.

Your are correct, they could ask for a referral fee, but they likely will not.

Drug dealers participate in activities that hurt and kill people James. Be a bit more fair and use a better analogy if your going to slam any concept that you have not yet adjusted to.

I didn't miss your point. I read it and understood it very well. You don't like these companies or methods but you have respect and confidence in yours. That's what I got from your post. Your next post accuses & brings up drug dealing and an arrogant comment about me missing the point.

Your point is to kick dirt towards change. You will succeed.

Greg N and others,

I would say that I do not rush to judgment on Housevalues and the others, I have been fully aware of Housevalues for over 3 years now and have known a number of otherwise successful REALTORS who have tried Housevalues only to quit using housevalues services in disgust.

Personally about 90% of my business is coming from the internet, and though I have spent many thousands of dollars on my website and other internet endeavors (NO PPC up to this point, No buying leads from any of these companies, I have tried homegain and found it to be a waist of time.) I would measure the return I have received on investment to be well in excess of 5,000% I have worked and made sure that my website shows up at or near the top of the Google searches for the marketplaces I wish to do business in. In most cases the only competition I have left who place above me in Google for some of the searches, is Homes.com, Homegain, & Truila. Currently Trulia is not selling leads but don't be surprised if that changes in the future as well.

Though I did not directly call these lead sellers drug dealers, I do think that their business model is fairly similar though since you the user become addicted to them, stop doing much of anything to develop your own presence on the web and eventually your competitors have so far passed you buy that even if you wanted to promote your site it is just to late, The above talked about companies as well as your local REALTOR competitors have locked you off the front pages of your local Google Searches. At that point you are ADDICTED, does not matter if you admit it or not!!

I think that putting yourself in the hands of companies like Housevalues.com homegain, homes, ... is a mistake that in the long run you may pay for dearly!!

5,000% ROI! Wow? I guess it's all relative, financially speaking that is. Congratulations anyway. RE read your post please. You DID make a comment that House Values was an "uninformed source for information" The reason for my rebuttle against your post.

Did you edit your original post James? I noticed it is different.

Greg, I have not edited any of the initial post, Only added to the bottom of it. The line you put in your second to last comment "uninformed source for information" did not come from me in this post or any of the comments that I made to the post until this comment. Not sure where you got it from but you did not get it from me.

Wow. Okay, thanks.

"Currently Trulia is not selling leads but don't be surprised if that changes in the future as well."

That day will come. I have been telling agents for some time that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Yet agents continue to support our competition. All you are doing by linking to or adding content to these sites is helping your competition crush you. Speaking of linking to them, have you all noticed that Trulia is ranking way better as of late? Wonder why they now outrank you? Simple it's because you and many other agents link to them. Remove the links to Trulia, R.com, Zillow, and any other site that directly competes with you in the serps and stop helping your competition.

ActiveRain was a great way for agents to learn to blog, now that HV is an owner it's time for agents to move on and only build content on their own sites. Why help HV is ANY way, even if the investment is just "like a VC" (which is BS IMO) you are still adding profits to HV's bottom line. WHY?

Ken, I could not agree with you more. There is some behind the scenes stuff going on between Active Rain and Housevalues, and don't be surprised if all the sudden housevalues starts showing up in your local Google search such as City State Real Estate. Just one more possition you will have to fight for and probably loose unless you are really good or have lots of money to spend hiring someone to help you do that.

James, I want to add a little to my above comment. My website is with homes.com and has been for about 8 years. I get quite a bit of business through my site. I don't pay homes.com anything for this business all though I do pay $79 a month for my site.

I've also been a member of Homegain for about 6 years. I was one of the original members so don't pay any fees but do pay a 30% referral fee on closed transactions. I only work the listing side and probably close about 3 or 4 deals a year. That's roughly $20,000 in commissions for a very little bit of effort. So it does work. But as I mentioned above I don't pay for leads, I pay referrals on closed deals which I don't mind doing at all.

As a broker I have had agents that worked under me that could NEVER close a lead even though I would just give them to them. It really does depend on the effort put forth.

While housevalues is not for me I'm sure there are folks that do well off of them.

FEB

2008

I don't want to pay another website, company etc. to take leads from me and then have me pay for them. If they would get out of our way I think we would be able to generate our own leads.

Christina,

I spend around $1,000 a month with House Values. I receive around 55 leads a month - guaranteed.

Do you have a way of advertising that guarantees you anything on a monthly basis that brings in a certain amount of prospects? If so, please share it here.

Does it matter if you advertise on a huge billboard off a major freeway? Branding has value - I understand that. But once prospects turn into clients they become part of your circle. How they got their isn't important. The relationship you build and the confidence they gain in your abilities does.

I have spent money and lots of it on signs, magazines and other "feel-good" advertising just like everyone else. The same people that contact me through those methods are likely the same people who go on-line to find begin their search for a Realtor or home. If Susie the buyer sees your sign then goes to HouseValues.com & I get a hold of her first - Who wins? If 82% of consumers are starting on-line then it stands to reason that this is WHERE it's at. I don't know about you, but I've raked in 10 listings so far this year giving me 23. All of those are HV related. I like HV - a lot.

So how do I take advantage of the majority traffic? Millions of ways. Incorporating on-line leads with my other on-line strategies has been very beneficial. If I were to grab all the previous clients I worked with and asked them what they remember the most, most of them would compliment my "shrewd negotiating & customer service." Not How they found me.

Wow Greg, $1000 a month for only 55 leads.

My site ranks very well for about 8 different search terms and I get between 1 and 5 decent leads every day. I spend about $60 a month for the main aspects of my site, and to this point do not do PPC.

You are correct 82% of the buyers are looking online for 6 months or more before they contact a REALTOR, I choose to cut out the middle man and get in front of these home buyers where they are already looking. For sure I don't get all of them, but I get more than enough of them, and the numbers are growing.

best of luck, and keep in mind that HouseValues has been in deep financial trouble for years now and how long can a company like this continue to loose money? You may want to start prepairing for the day when HouseValues is gone, and you need to get your leeds someplace else.

Jim

House Values isn't my only stream of business.

I bring in about 200 leads a month from my own efforts, another 20 or so From Leadstreet and 30 or more from my association.

About spending. I spend less than 10% of my gross income on marketing which includes the cost of HV. I also use 2 contact managment systems. I have arrangements for the cost of my leads which I won't get into here. Let's just say I am very satisfied with my bottom line. It's not just "how much" $ you make but what % of your $ you keep & what u do with it is equally important. In the end I win. Thanks for listening.

Greg: I can agree with this statment "It's not just "how much" $ you make but what % of your $ you keep & what u do with it is equally important."

Ok so your getting leads form RE/MAX as well, ok that is good, I get those as well, but would say that the leads I get from my own personal site are considerably stronger leads than thouse I get from lead street. Check out the site if you like.

Here is one of the pages that ranks quite well:

http://www.jboyerhomes.com/Morristown.php

Jim

Nice site Jim. I appreciate your twist on the subject. Glad you were open to hear mine.

Greg really has hit upon the real issue. House Values, HomeGain, and all of the other lead generation services should only be part of your overall marketing campaign. You cannot depend upon one source for all of your business (and your leads are the lifeblood of your business). You should have a mixture. If you subscribe to a lead generation service, that should be part of the whole picture. Some agents do PPC campaigns. Some concentrate on SEO. It should all be mixed into one big picture of growing your business.

If you focus on only one avenue of building your leads (such as HomeGain), you run the risk of having all your eggs in one basket. That's not good no matter what the situation is. And, in situations like that, I can totally understand James saying that it becomes like an addiction - you will constantly worry about when the next lead will come in, how viable that lead will be, and then when the next lead will come in.

Keep your options open and be sure to include other avenues for bringing in leads!

~Renae

Renae First, thank you for commenting. Second I am all for diversification. Third the lesson to be learned here is not that you just make HouseValues, Homegain, ...a part of your overall lead generation effort. The lesson to be learned here is that the aforementioned companies and others are the leaches on the real estate industry. What value are they delivering to the home buyers and home sellers out there? Are they able to deliver good quality leads to you, for an amount comparable or possibly less expensively than you can generate them yourself?

If I had Greg's $1,000 a month budget which he is spending on HouseValues, I bet I could generate 300 leads a month which are as good a quality or most likely better quality than the 55 leads HouseValues is delivering to him now.

I have participated in this same conversation on another blog. For the sake of time, I'll just copy what I said there over here:

I think it is unfair to say, across the board, that agents should never use lead generation services. Plenty of agents are perfectly capable of following the directions that plenty of people on AR are giving through their blogs to start generating leads on their own. We always tell our clients that they need to develop a niche and focus on it to help bring in leads that are of higher quality through their websites. However, there are also agents on the other end of the scale who either do not want to or do not have the time to develop a presence using blogging and other such methods but still need to have leads coming in. Many of these agents use lead generation services. Does this make them wrong? Are they growing their businesses incorrectly because they aren't doing it the way you are? I really don't think so.

You say that lead generation services are taking over the real estate industry and that, by patronizing those vendors, agents are actually sabotaging themselves. I disagree with this as well. Consumers utilize services such as HomeGain, HouseValues and other similar sites to find a realtor because of many different reasons. One of them is the perception. They perceive these vendors as portals to finding just the right realtor quickly and easily. Consumers don't know what you, as an agent, have to do in order to be a part of these websites but they know you have to do something. To the consumer, this sets you apart from all the other agents on the Internet. After all, not all Internet leads do online research to find an agent. Some rely on the services such as those that HomeGain provides. After they've narrowed down their choices through one of these services, they may then look for those agents online.

The bottom line is that different strategies work for different agents, be it lead generation services, PPC, SEO, or niche marketing. Not everyone is going to run their business the way that you do, in spite of your obvious success with your methods. But, because it works for you doesn't mean nothing else works or that agents should give up anything that you aren't doing. That's just not practical. It would be awesome if all of our clients followed your advice and lead - it would make things so much simpler for us. But life is a mix - and so is business!

~Renae

FEB

2008

I hate beating a dead horse, but I'll kick the old bastard one more time to spread my opinion again here.

If I work 20 more years in real estate and earn between 4.5-7 million dollars and ride my days out playing golf and enjoying my life will it have mattered how I made my money?

If I make 230k this year. At the end of they year will it matter? Should it? I CAN ONLY control so much of my life and what happens around it. I can't change the complexities of the "leaches" or all the other issues.

I just want to make money and move on. If it's with HV great, if not, then it will be thru another source. Eventually I'll croak and die. I doubt how I got my leads will be on my short list when I'm old and krinkly.

I'm not missing my point. :)

I spent over $7500 with Housevalues...and did not recoup my investment...... I had a database of over 450 people getting drip e-mails every month..... I made about 50 calls every night to people in my database (new and old leads) asking about how they were, if they were ready to sell or purchase yet.... I did anywhere from 1-5 CMAS every night....... in addition to the phone calls.

I was a Housevalues Certified Professional and I was looking to join the Presidents Circle one day.... but that day never did come....because of the quality of the leads I had.

In the 10 months I was with Housevalues, I got TWO listings and one sale (that is 2 out of 450 -- NOT a good ROI at all)..... an owner torpedoed one of the listings so it did not sell, even though it had a FULL PRICE OFFER pending on it.

I lost money with Housevalues and I did everything that was needed to work the system except deliver CMAS by hand...I would e-mail them.

The ONLY lead generating company i would recommend would be one that SCREENS leads to make sure the lead was READY to buy or sell...... PERIOD.... or I would do as Broker Bryant has stated and join a company that YOU PAY a referral fee to AFTER the sale.

BTW my website does very well in google and yahoo...plus my ActiveRain© profile AND blog are highly ranked as well...I get leads for all three sources..... and GOOD leads too.....

I do not need Housevalues anymore..... thank goodness.....

Why throw money away??

FEB

2008

On the other side of the coin, I am a seller working with an agent I found through Homegain. He is now trying to get out of paying the HomeGain referral fee, and wants me to lie to Homegain and say I'm not using him. I'd be a fool to think this agent is going to put forth his best effort to sell my home during our exclusive period knowing he's trying to scam HomeGain. Agents, I agree: 27 or 30% is an outrageous percentage. As is 7-8 percent of a half million bucks, so I think you're somewhat used to the outrageus percentage, are you not? Please be honest. If you sign up with a referral company, pay them and please don't make it the seller's problem the way my agent has. Thanks.

I agree Karalynn. Scumbag.

Karalynn - I hope you realize that not all agents are dishonest that way! The person you are working with makes up a small percentage of real estate agents. You are absolutely right that they should pay the fee. It's just like having cable TV. If you use the service, at the end of the month don't try to get out of paying the cable bill!

~Renae

Karalynn,

I totally agree with your statement, "I'd be a fool to think this agent is going to put forth his best effort to sell my home during our exclusive period knowing he's trying to scam HomeGain."

I would tend to think that the agent who you have found quite probably does not know much about how to properly market your home to begin with, so judging if he is putting his best effort forward or not is likely not a easy thing to do. The reason I say this is not to be mean or condescending to this particular agent, but because in general the agents who use companies like this are usually not the cream of the crop so to speak. They have not spent the time learning and implementing what it takes in today's markets to truly market a home to the best it can be marketed.

James, I don't think that because an agent uses a service such as HomeGain, it means they don't know how to properly market a property. One doesn't really have anything to do with the other. HomeGain is a lead generation service and has nothing to do with marketing the property after the agent has gotten the listing.

I think Karalynn's point about the agent not putting forth his best effort would be more about him not being honest and upfront since that's exactly how he's being with HomeGain.

~Renae

Karalynn,

Your agent seems like a something-for-nothing type of person, not just a something-for-nothing agent. I hope you find the representation that you need and deserve.

Renae,

I fully got Karalynn's point and agree with her logic. I also know quite a number of the agents in my area at least who use these companies, and for the most part it is a short term thing. Ether the agent figures out real fast how to generate leads on their own and decides not to waist their time with home gain, or the agent is out of business in quick order (many times agents drawn to these companies are new and inexperienced agents), or in the cases I know well, the agents have not spent much if any time getting themselves out there internet wise, in a way that could possibly generate leads. These tend to be the agents who have been around for 10 or 20 years or more, and now that the market has shifted and many of the old ways of generating business are close to worthless (Open Houses, Floor Time, News Paper Adds...) they swing from thing to think just trying anything that is easy.

Why did I say what I said "I would tend to think that the agent who you have found quite probably does not know much about how to properly market your home to begin with, so judging if he is putting his best effort forward or not is likely not a easy thing to do." I read someplace a year or so ago, and I wish I had saved the article, that more than 60% of the real estate agents working with homegain, housevalues, ... had less than a years experence selling homes.

I think most of those resources are poor places for agents to spend their money. And I speak from experience with a couple of them.

I only disagree with you because we have several clients who utilize HomeGain or HouseValues as part of their overall marketing campaign and are pretty successful with it. These agents have a pretty good presence online but utilize HG as one of several methods of gaining leads. They aren't getting ready to go out of business either.

I would also venture to say that the statistic you quoted would be accurate because many newer agents are doing whatever they can to get leads - and that often means utilizing lead generation services. I can see how that number would be correct. I just take issue with you saying that any agent who uses these services doesn't know what they're doing.

~Renae

APR

2008

Just talked to a rep from HouseValues about their JustListed.com buyer leads. They still are asking for one year contracts from Realtors for buyer leads! WHO ARE THEY KIDDING?! If this were not so insulting it would be funny! If the program is so good, why do they need to lock agents in to a long-term contract? I should know in 2-3 months if these leads are of value. And if they are, of course I am going to keep subscribing. If not, the only reason to stay is... oh yeah, I'm stuck in a long-term contract! HouseValues uses the excuse that they need to motivate agents to do the follow-up work. Nice sales pitch if you can get people to buy it.

I just don't think this is the way to treat clients. It leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. Too bad, I was ready to try them out.

Jim

MAY

2008

Wanted to comment on this again, as yet more new people to AR are asking questions about house values and if it is a good deal for them or not. Well it is a very very good deal for house values, not to sure it is a deal at all for Real Estate Agents who subscribe.

JUN

2008

There is always a reason behind everything. There is no such thing as FREE everything that is out there has it's winners or the people behind the scenes pulling all the strings. Guess what so much talk about stealth websites and wether they are legal or not well all of these companies are perfect examples of stealth websites...

JUN

2008

Jim,

I hear some sellers are asking for 12 month listing agrrements in certain markets. A listing that is priced appropriately will sell well before the normal 6 month listing agreement for me. I still refuse to take less than a 6 month listing agreement.

If a seller told you to list their home very aggressively would you still expect a 6 month listing agreement or would you subscribe to the notion that you should be evaluated on a monthly basis to determine if you could keep the listing?

JUN

2008

AUG

2008

You see, Internet leads are not glamorous James. Consider them the blue collar way of making money. Statistics do not lie about consumers first search - ONLINE. Internet leads are a crucial component of every successful agents portfolio.

Greg Nino hit the nail on the head. Internet leads are very important. The great thing about real estate is that you get to choose how you want to build YOUR business. Some agents can generate all their own leads. But not every agent has the time or knowledge to generate leads. One of my clients is a single mother. She doesn't have time to learn SEO and build a website. Another one of my clients is an older gentleman with cancer. He doesn't have the energy to generate his own leads. We have a free market, fortunately, so there are many options available.

Hi Not Yet Licensed,

I agree Internet Leads are important, that is why I have invested so much of my time and money in generating internet leads. Over the past 8 months I have generated almost 1000 leads with valid contact information. So far this year 100% of my business has come from the internet.

My point was and still is that there is no need to put money in the pockets of these third party companies who add no value to the consumer or us for that matter. Who is to say that some large Real Estate company that you are not working with could not come along and pay to monopolize the leads from said company, then what do you think after you have put money in said lead company's pockets, helping them to dominate your areas search terms and all, now they are working for your competition.

No, I prefer to have as much control over my own destiny as possible. Agents who put their destiny into others hands are destined to be hurt in the long run!!

I'm not worried about housevalues. They have nothing to offer sellers and most buyers give bogus info or un-subscribe immediately. Buyers will work with you based on your content and knowledge.

Sandra thank you for the comment, Think about it, all those TV adds are not free, and all that Pay Per Click advertising is not free, and of course purchasing what was it 20% of Active Rain was not free, so where do you think HouseValues.com was getting all the money to do all these things??

They are not dumb, and in areas they are not good at, they have the money to hire people who will help them be good at what they are not good at now.

never under estimate a well funded competitor!!!

Who is to say that some large Real Estate company that you are not working with could not come along and pay to monopolize the leads from said company, then what do you think after you have put money in said lead company's pockets, helping them to dominate your areas search terms and all, now they are working for your competition.

Hi James,

I guess anything is possible. However I don't see your scenario as probable. Have you been watching the value of HouseValues stock over the past three years? Not a pretty picture. You seem very successful. Why are you worried about HouseValues? They have their business model and you have yours. Both can, and do, exist. That's the free market at work.

AUG

2008

I think everyone is missing the point of James blog. Those of us that participate on sites like Zillow and Trulia are only strengthening their positions and its helping them out rank us in the search engines. I currently rank in the top 10 for my competitive search phrase, Las Vegas Real Estate and Trulia is ranked higher than my site. The more real estate agents that put their fancy widgets on their website, it makes Trulia stronger and agents like myself will never be able to rank higher for them in our local markets. Isn't that the point of having a website, to generate business? In order to do that, your website has to be found on the search engines, if it isn't found, it doesn't exist!

I used House Values when I was co-owner of North American Realty of Nevada as a source of leads for our agents. We spent thousands of dollars every month and the leads were of very poor quality! How do I know this, I generated 100 leads a month from my website back then and we were consistently closing Internet leads from my site but we couldn't close any Internet leads from House Values. I stopped spending money with them and re-invested it into my website and today I generate over 500 leads a month! This is all from natural search engine placement, no PPC!

Stop putting money into the pockets of companies like House Values and invest in yourself. No one wants you to succeed more than yourself so stop building other companies and build your business.

By the way, I just joined AR at the end of June and within a week I received an email from House Values soliciting my business. Is it a coincidence that they got my email because they invested in AR? I thought I read some where that AR was not going to release their members information to House Values?

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