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Money Tree Lending as Lead Generation...Looking for some guidance

I was recently approached by Money Tree Lending to purchase some of their leads for clients interested in purchasing a home in my area in the next 3-6mos. They are slick on the phone, say that if a lead doesn't pan out they'll replace it etc. All things good at their end. I did some research on the net from other Realtors that didn't have the best of experiences with the company. I'm looking for any input from someone who has worked with them on leads. Postives? Negatives? Horror stories?

Many of the complaints I found were that the leads were ancient. The new leads that replaced the bad ones were more of the same. I'm not one to buy leads, never trusted the sources...and we've all heard stories from someone or another that they never pan out but for some reason I've brought this up so I must be thinking about it.

Any help would be appreciated-

Posted by Chris Galyon on 05/26/2008 10:38 AM

Comments (11)

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Post is included in group: Clark County Real Estate Professionals

11 Comments on Money Tree Lending as Lead Generation...Looking for some guidance

MAY

2008

Thanks for this post. I don't have any experience to add, but I am flagging to see the responses.

Hello Chris,

This company is not a brokerage firm and as such is denied access to the Multiple Listing Service, so they, like others, have come up with a parallel plan to forward real estate "leads" to Realtors based upon people who make an inquiry on their website regarding shopping for mortgages. No one I know as of this writing has had a single "lead" lead to anything productive. You would probably do better networking with the mortgage brokers on this site or near your office regarding referrals. People who are pre-approved looking to purchase a home are the best leads any agent could have, but unless they actually follow through by signing the paperwork, it makes you wonder when a lead is really a lead regarding online companies reselling contact information.

I'm waiting to see if this company will start a brokerage chain like Wal-Mart has. Should be interesting to see where this goes in the future. Do what you think is best for you. Evaluate what they are offering and ask yourself if it will be money wisely spent when you can generate leads from Trulia and Active Rain and your own website for free.

Regards, C.

My experience is that all of these lead generators are full of it.

JUL

These people are a rip off. None of the leads are any good. Promised a 30 day trial and said they wouldn't charge the card unless I continued. They charged the card anyway and I'm fighting to get my money back. RIP OFF!

AUG

Gosh, I was contacted by Tyara Chatman of MoneyTree and it really sounds good. An agreement for 20, and 100% replacement. She said that they are getting an average of 31 leads per month from my area, and would start sending fresh leads...and they would be coming in...in the future, and that they did not want to give me leads that were not fresh. Now I Googled their name, and this sounds really bad. Anyone else have input, or have they changed because of all of this, and now are doing what they say they'll do? Right now, in this economy, their pitch sounds very good.

I wouldn't recommend it based on the information I received after posting this as well as asking around.

AUG

It depends how the leads are generated too.

I'm a realtor that made 180k last year using leads I gererated myself, in much the same way that the leads for sale from lending tree and the like are generated, only slightly different. I'm not going to go into detail on it, but I have a team with 3 buyer agents whom I supply as well. These are good leads that I've relied on for 5 years and built my business on. My best buyer agent just did 100k in his first 6 months.

These are good solid leads and if anyone is interested in buying my out-of-market leads I'm happy to chat with them about it. I can also generate leads in your area on a per-lead basis. I'll even supply the script I use to book appointments and pre-qualify. I'm not a company specializing in lead generation, just a Realtor like yourselves looking to diversify my income.

Currently I book one appointment for every 5 new leads that come in. 1 in 10 close. My buyer agents do roughly the same, though closer to 1 in 20. I'll even throw in some free coaching if you're interested. email me if you want more information. Comments welcome!

AUG

RIP OFF is the best way to describe this source. I received less leads than promised, they were NO GOOD. OLD leads from as far back as last winter, multiple had already sold and bought new properties, hang ups, no answers to Vmail, Email, hard copy introduction letters. 3 months later, not even one warm lead. I called to complaint and was offered refund 1/2 months fee, how generous for no good leads and services rendered. These leads are not worth the paper you print them on. Shame on me for not cancelling sooner. STAY AWAY.

SEP

I am flagging this thread to see other responses. I know of an agent in my office who pays for seller leads and he is very successful with this one particular company. I would have signed up with them but he bought the entire county!

SEP

This company is a total rip off. The leads are weeks to years old - most people have already bought and closed. The rest of the leads have disconnected phones.

Am fighting to get my money back - they say they provided the service since they kept sending leads. The leads were all bad and now they are refusing a refund and refusing to send good leads.

They are a total waste of your money. Do not sign on and warn others about them.

FEB

These people are total rip off artists. They sent me bogus phone numbers and none were on Maui which is where I live and work. They have the audacity to want money for nothing. I am enraged at their business practices and angry at myself for being sucked in.

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