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HomeGain - anyone familiar?

I've found that when I search google for "real estate agent Mora Minnesota", I'm only topped by two things. One is GMAC real estate (No problem, I'll overcome that obstacle soon!!!) and the other is homegain. I went online and checked it out, but I was curious if anyone here on AR is familiar with it. It boasts getting so many leads a month, but I don't know how I'd get that many leads considering the area that I'm working. I live in a small town, after all. I also wonder how I'm going to knock them down in the searches. I would think that it would be easy, but I can't imagine that many local agents are using homegain. Most of the agents in Mora are older and have told me over and over "I only use the internet as much as required by my job". I use it to tackle all the internet leads that would come in for Kanabec County that they aren't getting. I'm proud of the fact that I'm the only internet-guru in our roster of local agents.

Anyway, about HomeGain. Do you use it? Let me know what you think! Is it worth it???

Posted by Joslyn Panka - Mora Minnesota - Minnesota's One Way Ticket to SOLD! on 05/07/2007 02:47 PM

Comments (84)

real estate mora minnesota, real estate agent mora minnesota, realtor mora, kanabec county real estate, joslyn panka, pine city real estate

84 Comments on HomeGain - anyone familiar?

MAY

2007

homegain operates other realty websites under other names. so look at other sites fine prin

Homegain .com will charge you for the leads on a monthly basis whether lead is good or not, also on top of that they will get 30% referral fees which means you are working for Homegain, why buy leads when you can generate your own leads, i had bad experiences with lead generation companies and i will never recommend them to any one and if others will stop using them they will be out of business pretty fast regardless of where they fall in the ratting when you search.

If you keep adding content to your site you can beat out homegain.

Joslyn, as long as you continue to blog, your website will continue to be come up in the search engines. You can bring your website up yourself.

I tried homegain quite a few years ago and just ended up filling out lots of proposals but never anything from it. It could have changed since then but personally I think you are better off adding content to your own personal website. Google loves content. Also make lots of Localism post that shoots you to the top of Google also.

MAY

2007

Joslyn,

Please delete the link to homegain. It will help them get a better page rank which will help them stay ahead of you in the search engines. The enemy is amongst us.

Deja - I kind of figured such. Thanks for the input.

Paul - Very informative. I believe in "making my own destiny", which means making my own leads. I'm perfectly capable of selling myself and the services I offer. I'm not sure that I need anyone else to do it for me. Thanks!

Greg - I'm obsessed with SEO and being #1 now. My next tackle? To find a way to move myself up on yahoo search. Not quite sure why I'm ranked so well for google, but invisible to yahoo.

Louis - How do I e-mail you which questions without a link? Homegain really isn't something that I'm interested in participating in, anyway, so it's not really a big deal.

Kay - I do continue to blog, and to look at everyone's tips for SEO. I'm going to be number 1. One way or another :)

Marchel- I'm afraid that's what would happen to me. I live in rural area. How am I supposed to get 30 leads a month when I really don't think there are 30 people in my area going to homegain and requesting information???? We are an area of dial-up internet and the older generation. The last thing I want is to pay for leads in the metro, which is 2 hours away.

Greg - Link deleted. Apparantly, the enemy IS amongst us, and watching what we do.

Thank you Louis. I will send you an e-mail today or tomorrow.

Joslyn: Louis no doubt will explain many things directly when you connect but for the benefit of your readers that don't reach out to him directly-- not all HomeGain products require REALTORS® to pay a referral fee. Much of the traffic that may find HomeGain via the rankings will be handed over to a local REALTOR® for a minimal pay-per-click fee where the REALTOR® will establish contact and a relationship with a potential buyer. HomeGain merely does this more efficiently than many individual agents that can't, or won't, devote the energy needed to bring this traffic directly to their own websites.

Chris - Helpful! Thanks! I'm just curious what they do. I know that Zillow is somewhat disliked, but I hate to judge until I know the facts. Thanks!

Hi Joslyn

I'll give you a quick run down on the products we offer and how we attract traffic and leads.

From that you will realize that our business is to help realtors.

Looking forward to our discussion.

Regards

Louis

". . . our business is to help realtors." Interesting.

Does HomeGain help

a. buyers

b. sellers

c. Realtors®

d. HomeGain

e. All of the above

I'd like to know the same Ed! My business is to help my buyers and sellers... and I'm not sure that homegain fits into my plans.

MAY

2007

Joslyn,

That link to homegain is still in the comment made by Louis. You will never get ahead of them if you help them.

Tricky, tricky! Thanks for catching that Greg! I totally missed that! Gone now!

As we all know, there are always 2 and sometimes 3 sides to a story. This is what Homegain has done for me over the last 9 months.

Business History

HomeGain Clients: 20
I've closed 7 HomeGain transaction(s)!
I'm currently working with 13 other client(s)!

I always recommend you investigate to see what works for you. Best of luck all.

Interesting. They promised me 4 leads per month and I ended up getting a total of 2 "so called leads" in the 6 months that I was with them. Google pay per click is wayyyyyyy cheaper and more productive than that.

Like I've said, being primarily a dial-up area, where buyers come from newspaper ads, not the internet, I just don't think homegain will help me. To each their own!

I used them last year for several months. I paid $99/month for leads from a single zip code w/a guarantee of 3 leads a month. I did a lot of CMAs, used their follow-up program, and never got anyone serious.

I use the Homegain Buyerlink and swear by it! I have used it almost exclusively for the last two years and in my first 6 months I closed 30 deals and 60 deals the second year! Does it cost money....absolutely but worth every penny I spend.

I guess the opinions vary quite a bit. I think for now I'll work on my personal promotion with my website. Thanks everyone for your insight!

MAY

2007

Article in California Association of Realtors Magazine

What online lead generation companies can and can not do for your company.

http://www.car.org/index.php?id=MzcyOTE

Stay away from any online lead companies. I have tried many of them, thrown away thousands of dollars and came to the conclusion that I can do this myself. Just have a great website and blog with links to your site and you will rise in the rankings above them.

I'm new. For now, I will break my own trails, and if I decide at some point I need the help of an online agency, then so be it.

Meanwhile, I'm determined to outrank such companies. :)

MAY

2007

Joslyn that is a great attitude. I was searching for similar answers when I came upon AR. From the resesarch I have found so far, I think if we work on promotion of our websites then we would not need the services of online lead companies. I have nothing against them but we can benefit from doing the same thing they do. Homegain has 3 different programs that I imagine work differently for different people in different parts of the country. But it seems that all 3 work on the same general principle... they rank high and then pass out the leads to the agents that pay to use their service. We can use our energy to outrank and get our own leads without the referral fees.

I'm trying so hard to outrank them.... any tips?

Thanks for the comment Kimberly!

Companies like this will always thrive because there are so many who are afraid to PROSPECT!

tamara

I think its not an issue of realtors being afraid of prospecting. Its a matter of where you want to spend your time.

Homegain's customers use our services not because they are afraid of prospecting but because they are too busy being realtors and selling real estate to be spending time trying to optimize their sites for limited seo benefit, buying key words, developing lead management software etc.

As a realtor you have to decide where you wish to focus your efforts. If you want to spend half the day bidding on key words or adding content to your site you won't be meeting potential clients and selling real estate.

What homegain does is provides a variety of marketing solution for realtors so they can focus on their customers.

Using the logic that realtors can do their own marketing, you could also say realtors should not pay the electric companies to keep their lights on. They should instead just spend an hour or two a day pedalling a bicycle hooked up to a generator to meet their electricity needs.

A few hours a day with a churn and you can make your own butter too.

MAY

2007

Wow.

I guess that homegain isn't the best choice for me at this point, because I am new and have the time to prospect and work on my website and SEO myself.

Back to what I said originally - it's not right for me at this time.

MAY

2007

Thanks Joslyn

No solution is right for anyone. I am glad you are enjoying getting your business set up.

I wish you a successful career.

I trust you'll keep your blog going so we can track your success!

Regards

Louis

MAY

2007

When I had a Z57 website, they offered a lead program - which turned out to be HomeGain. I got lots and lots of leads, but never a real cllient. When I switched to another website designer and host, I considered continuing with HomeGain on my own, but have gotten plenty of leads without it - and better quality ones. If all you want is names and contact info (much of it is bogus), you will get that from HomeGain. I'd love to hear if anyone every got much real business from them.

JUN

2007

I'm a realtor familiar with HomeGain. Recently I discovered that HomeGain is being sued by its own employees. I ask, how can we realtors trust HomeGain when HomeGain tried to deny overtime wages to its very own employees. If HomeGain treats its own employees in such an underhanded manner how will they treat realtors like you and me? Please Google "HomeGain Lawsuit" and you will find:

A class action lawsuit was filed against HomeGain.
If you are interested please access the court documents by going to:
http://apps.alameda.courts.ca.gov/fortecgi/fortecgi.exe?ServiceName=DomainWebService&TemplateName=index.html

Then click on Case Summary and enter the case number: RG05246985. Any comments from HomeGain General Manager Louis Cammarosano or HomeGain Client Relations Manager Janice Ridge?

JUN

2007

I had Home Gain 1st when they charged a referral fee and then when they went to a flat monthly fee. I did close 3 sides with them, but as for the seller leads you really have to work them and the ones you convert are far and few between. I didn't sign up for the buyer leads so I don't know how that works.

Now that I am no longer with them and looking back had I promoted my services more I would probably would have had better leads from my own website.

Edie Czerniak
RE/MAX Realty Team
Cape Coral, FL
mailto:edie@livingcapecoral.com
www.LivingCapeCoral.com

JUN

2007

I just love all the comments I'm getting - this is very interesting. I'll have to look into the lawsuit. Thanks for the info! And Edie, that's kind of what I'm focusing on now, and so far so good!

JUL

2007

I have used Homegain for over a year now. I pay $99/mo for their Agent Evaluator service. I get 5-15 leads a day which produce 10-15 responses and 2-3 clients per month. Since the leads are not exclusive, the key on Homegain is to be the first to resond to the leads, like within minutes. It does work, and works well. I don't mind paying a 30% referral fee to get this kind of return for very little effort (less than 30 minutes a day). I spend 20-40 hours a week working my sphere of influence, internet marketing, and other advertising which ends up costing me just as much or more than the 30% referral fee. NEW AGENTS NEED to use these types of services to build their client base; it's a small price to pay to have clients for life. Homegain is just one spoke of the wheel but don't discount it.

Homegain also offers a pay-per-click service that sends leads directly to your website for $0.99-1.99 per click based on the city and they guarantee up to 250 clicks per month. I'm curious to know what other agents think about the price. I use adwords on Google which isn't working very well and I'm just now starting to get into SEO but I have trouble trying to figure out how I can get organic results cheaper, considering the cost and time it would take to get my website on the first page of results in my area (Phoenix and Scottsdale). I'd appreciate if anyone could tell me some simple and inexpensive strategies to generate more traffic to my site.

JUL

2007

Evan - Are you a part of Active Rain? This is a huge benefit to your SEO! I was nowhere to be seen on search engines, and now I'm everywhere! If you would like to join, there is a link to the right on my blog!

JUL

2007

Evan

Thanks for using our Agent Evaluator program. I am glad you are having success with it.

I recently corresponded with Jay Thompson-the Phoenix Real estate guy who is not a fan of lead generation companies -you can check out his insightful blog here: http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/Real Estate

The discussion I had with Jay is relevant here and I'll summarize some of the points.

Realtors that can generate their own leads enough to sustain a healthy business probably should not use HomeGain.

Similarly, consumers who want to spend hours looking up their neighbors homes, celebrity homes etc, should also probably not bother with HomeGain.

Homegain has nearly 10 thousand realtors members who use our services as a sole means or supplement to reach potential homebuyers and sellers.

A good portion of our visitors are specifically looking to hook up with a realtor. That's the value we provide to consumers and realtors -matching them.

Many realtors are spending a lot of time optimizing their site for SEO-in many cases it time well spent and in others its a waste of time.

More important than free traffic is the quality of the traffic

-does the content of the web site match what the user was searching
for? if not visitors will quickly click away

- does your page facilitate interaction with your visitors so they will email you, call you,
give you some contact details?

I've seen many agents with active rain
blogs (some of them HG customers) who spend a lot of time trying to
optimize for SEO with some traffic results but little or no lead results.

Jay, however gets the bulk of his business from his website and blog. Jay is also very technically proficient and spends a lot of time on it.

Joslyn is doing very well with her blog (using HomeGain as a topic was smart as it attracted a lot of comments) and website too, although I don't know if it is leading to leads and business.

Some of HomeGain's customers get the bulk of their business from HomeGain leads and traffic, while some use it to supplement their business. Our first agent to reach a million dollars in commission earned from HomeGain leads uses homegain as a supplement, not as a main source (pretty successful guy that Eric Pakulla)

It comes down to how you want to spend your time and which method way is the most cost effective for you.

The problem with using active rain to drive potential buyers and sellers is that the traffic probably does not reach the homebuyer and seller in a targeted fashion. I love active rain because I can learn what realtors are thinking which helps us better serve our customers. I don't see however, many homebuyers and sellers on the site.

While HomeGain gets some of its traffic from SEO, the bulk of it
comes from more than 300 partnerships and people just typing in
HomeGain. We try to attract the homebuyer and seller at the point when they are ready to transact.

We send almost all of our traffic to realtors in some way or
another, either in the form of impressions, leads,or visits to their
web sites.

Unlike Zillow which is a FSBO site in disguise, we do not
encourage interaction with HomeGain but with our Realtors.

Zillow encourages interaction with Zillow (make me move, fill on your
home's details, look up your neighbor's house, Tony Soprano's house etc-not exactly targeted homebuyers and seller traffic)

The best leads are referrals and walk ins. If you have plenty of
those there is no need to waste money on internet leads -even
HomeGain's which I believe are of the highest quality of all the internet lead
providers.

You can always try to generate your own traffic and leads.
However ifyou don't have the time to spend on lead generation or are
unsuccessful at it, or are not interested in doing so, HomeGain is
for you.

When realtors say that they can do their own lead generation, I usually tell them they are right. They can also churn their own butter, cut their own grass, sew their own dresses too. I admire that spirit and if you can be successful with out help, that's quite an accomplishment.

Evan, if you'd like some tips on SEO, lead capture and more information how buyerlink can supplement your efforts, feel free to contact me at louis@homegain.com. Josyln your invitation still stands too :-)

Regards

Louis

many agents in my office say that Homegain is a Moneydrain.

david we find the vast majority of our customers are very satisfied with homegain. indeed more than half of our customers have been with us since 2005. if it doesn't work we'd like to know why so we can improve.

JUL

2007

Louis - Once I actually have some money flowing in that can flow out, perhaps we will talk. I am interested, but at the same time, am still promoting myself, too.

My only concern, like I've said before, is that I will get leads for areas that I am not anywhere near, because I am in a rural area. I don't mind driving an hour, or even two, but more than that, I just can't afford. I guess I won't know until I try it.

Joslyn,

I'm also in a small town (<500 people) and have been approached by all of these companies, they've even told me that they had 10 solid leads for my area and then when I asked what area that was after a long pause the person stumbled and fumbled and stated the nearest metropolitan area to me. If your town is anything like mine, the people that want to live there don't want to be in a major city, so those aren't the type of leads I need. Keep up with the blogging and pretty soon you'll move ahead of everyone for your niche marketing and can capture your own leads.

Daniel - Thanks! I will keep on bloggin'!

JUL

2007

I started using Homegain recently and I'm in a very competitive big area (D.C & Northern Virginia) so most times I'm competing against 15-20 other proposals. However in a short time, I've had 3-4 face-to-face meetings with potential clients through Homegain, and so far 1 buyer that I am working with actively.

Brian - I think if I was working a metro area, Homegain would most definitely help! I'm glad to hear it's worked well for you!

JUL

2007

I've been using HomeGain for several years now, and I have been very happy with it! I don't talk about it much to the others in my office, because I want to keep the leads for myself. But, I've closed a number of deals successfully, buyers and sellers, who may not have found me otherwise. And I only pay for the standard monthly membership - so I can only imagine if I pay for the additional services what sort of an increase I might have. I might just have to give that a try!

Hey Louis..got any deals for me?

HomeGain has been my little secret weapon. Shhh...

JUL

2007

Jeannie - Very interesting! I'm glad to hear a positive side to this post! Thanks so much!

JUL

2007

Been there, done that, save your money don't do it.

JUL

2007

Sounds like another way to get Realtors to pay for leads. Focus on what you can do to market yourself in you local area. Think outside of the box. I have sponsored Regional Racquetball Tournaments that turned into many leads.

JUL

2007

Joslyn, have you decided to sign up yet? I am debating the same thing.

Linda - Thanks for your input!

Tina - See, I kind of like that better. I would rather know I'm getting leads from doing a good job, not because I'm paying someone...

Loreena - I'm not going to right now, and I'm not sure about later. We'll just have to see!

This is not a black and white answer (as some of the above have responded). First we need to evaluate your premise: The keywords you've chosen "real estate agent Mora Minnesota" are your best choice for buyers and sellers to find your website. Yes I looked in google, and all your competition is there. But I checked 2 sources, Google Adwords, and on www.seochat.com is a good link to Overture Keyword suggestion. Both of them said there are 0, or statistically 0 searches by the public for those words, and now competition (other web pages) for that term. In order to maximize your exposure, you have to find what the publice is looking for. The term I found most impressive (and boy I wish I could find this kind of results in Wichita) is Mora Mn Real Estate. According to Google adwords, moderate searches, and NO COMPETITION. Overture says no searches at all for your phrase, but 1146 searches for Mora Mn Real Estate. And I've seen Overture return even 52 searches for a month. So, you must revise your premise to go where the public is looking. You still come up at the bottom of that page, but imagine if you Optimized your phrases, title, keywords, and description to the new phrase. See where you land.

Now, Homegain. I've used them several ways. I've had little luck with the seller leads. and I won't pay the 30% referrals. Here is where I am now, and it will be a few weeks before I can give you good results. But here is my plan.

I set a limit on what I would spend: $150 per month. My rate is $0.79 per lead. These leads end up on a "landing" page that is my full search page, with my header, but they land ON the search page. My IDX search page is set up to let consumers look at all the homes they want, but after details on 3 homes, they must register their email address. All the registers go into a drip email. Starts with an email every 4 days x3, then goes to 5 days, on out for about 1 every 30 for the last 3 months. All drip has articles, things about buying, stuff about my town, etc. I get about a 7% bounce (bad email), and about 65% are opening the emails, even 5 weeks out. I'm percolating them into a sale.

I use Homegain, becasue they are still higher on some phrases than I am. I'm willing to pay them for that position. When I pass them (which I will - I'm not trying to be all things to all customers), then I won't use them anymore, and I continue the drip email on all customers.

JUL

2007

Greg - WOW. Thank you so much for that post. I will definitely start using different keywords! You have been very informative! Thank you!

Homegain is good but some Realtors use it to get listing presentations from the competition ,yes this happened to me and the little pop-tart is still trying to copy my ideas from my website no original thinking going on in her brain , sorry for the vent please forgive me

Margaret - How does that work? I'm intrigued.

JUL

2007

My experience with home gain is this.... They lure the seller and buyer with NO REALTOR will contact them. Next they charge the realtor for half leads... You have a zip code lead with no email,no phone number, no way to work that lead... Like a carrot that dangles and you just can't get to it..

AUG

2007

Diane - Ooohh... no thanks for me!

AUG

2007

I am employed by HomeGain. The best product for Realtors is Buyerlink by far if you are in a large metropolitan area and you have a great landing page to capture leads. The key here is to be located in a Large Metro area. If you are in a smaller town or rural area then you are wasting your money. Definitely stay away from our other products: Source4Sellers and Agent Evaluator. 98 percent of the "leads" generated on those two products are garbage. Very few agents are succesful on either of those two products because 1 or 2 of every 100 leads is "good". Sure, every year we parade around our most succesful agents on Agent Evaluator but they number just a few dozen out of a roster of thousands of agents. This is the reason HomeGain charges a subscription fee for Agent Evaluator, otherwise we would not be able to make enough money on just the referral fees. Good luck!

AUG

2007

HomeGain employee - That's kind of what I thought. Thanks for the input!!! I really appreciate it!

What's a dial-up area? You mean they don't have high-speed everywhere?!

From all the people that I know and have talked to...For every 1 Home gain success story I would bet there are about 25 failures.

Any of these companies where I pay x amount for a zip code AND a referral fee is not a great idea. (Not that I haven't done this in the past). The big issue is if someone searches for Washington DC - thats 23 zip codes and 23 agents. Lots of competition. Even a small area in a city like Dupont Circle; could encompass 5 zip codes.

No thanks!

James - I know, isn't it crazy? Dial up? What's that?

AUG

2007

great info! Thanks!

Sarah, you're welcome!

SEP

2007

James,

You're right. I have one of the 25 failure stories. Homegain to me is a bunch of hooey. They are profitable and think they walk on water. The big headedness seems to be about them being successful with programs like that buyer-link. They generate millions from it.

I worked with them a while and then they started to work on me. Heavy-handed customer-support, shifty salesman for product upgrades to buyer-link.

They really made a mess out of my situation. I was ok with them until I talked them. Before that it was a mechanical lead service that worked like the others.

I was told I was hurting their employees. ?/2. And that I was not a match for homegain. ?? wait a minute, their lying to me, harassing me and .......I don't talk?

It seemed they were part of some grand scheme to get rid of certain agents or actually anyone they could. They have a bad attitude.

They think we Realtors are garbage here to serve them. They need to close their doors..

We have enough problems without them hanging carrots in our face and making us beg.

I didn't make any money, not saying that I might have if I hadn't got involved with the staff. The biggest A-holes there are a Matt Malmgren the Emeryville site manager, Mark Simons a manager, Dee a condescending support person with a razor attitude and a lying salesman named Rick Clayton. They make up their own truth(all liars) under the cloak of invincibility. Make Money. Us against them and they are all on the same page. Talking to one is like talking to the other. They are very good at provoking people.

Very suspicious.

They control the lead service and expect you to be lowly and quiet while they are the opposite, like the old south with the modern slaves being the real estate agents.

First-hand experience. I recommend to not use Homegain and tell others not to use it so they will have to behave and respect people.

Larry

SEP

2007

Hi Joslyn: Yikes... with all of the negative remarks and bad experiences, it appears Home Gain is a dead-ender. And, Joslyn... from all your blog posts I have read, just keep on doing what you're doing.

Real Estate is a cumulative thing... not totally unlike Chinese Water Torture. Drip, drip, drip... and all of a sudden... you're there ! In fact, I am fairly sure that was why the practice of a continuous email campaign is called a "drip" campaign. Best of luck, and hugs to the doggies and kitties. Karen Anne

Larry - Wow. :( That's all I can say.

Karen Anne - I agree. I'm not a patient person, though. I will continue doing what I've been doing... and it will happen, I'm sure. Thanks :)

SEP

2007

I have had decent success with Homegain. Not sure about your area.

Jason - Fantastic! I really do think it varies depending on what kind of area you are in!

SEP

2007

HOMEGAIN SUXXXXXXXX! I got a lead from a withdrawn packet that I mailed out, and also responded to them via a proposal through Homegain (as I was unaware that this was the same person since they don't give you the persons address of their home). Anyway, I listed and sold their home and HOME GAIN contacted me and told me that I owed them a referral fee because I responded to them from their system and the listing contract wasn't dated before that date even though the people said they contacted me through their mailing! THIS ENDED MY RELATIONSHIP WITH HOME GAIN AND ALSO PUT A DESIRE IN ME TO MAKE SURE I OUT RANK THEM ON THE MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES! So that is what I did and it was 100% FREE!

SEP

2007

Jason -- Which service(s) of Homegain's are you using? And what type of success have you had with them?

Sue -- Which HomeGain products are you using?

Michael - I want to beat them out in search engines too! Tell me how!

OCT

2007

Homegain,Housevalues,justlisted -www.realestate.com,www.househunt.com - All of them do the same things. Give you leads that has been given to four or more other real estate agents. I have used lead generation systems -www.realestate.com - THEY ALL SUCK BIG TIME! I am sorry if I am ranting but I am tired of these people always trying to make money off of hardworking real estate agents like us. Great post.

OCT

2007

Wow!!! I am new here and there is a lot of great advice. However, I must say that I believe that if you believe that life is out to get you then it is. And you will always prove yourself Right.

Before I joined HG, I did a little investigating of my own. I contacted an agent who was using the buyers link that was not in my area and got her opinion of HG. Which is why I am currently using HG. I do live in a very large county as well as a popular one. I started using HG about 2 months ago. So far I have generated 38 leads. These leads have filled out my questionnaire which I have inputted and saved in the MLS search that are now on automated emails that are sent to these leads every day when a new listing comes on the market. I can see if they are opening up the emails or not. Out of the 38 leads, there are 9 that are actively opening up the links every time an email is sent to them. (It is quite exciting) I don't have to do a thing but input the information once and all the work is being done for me and I am meeting their needs for "right now" and staying in contact with them in one way or another. There is a way to work these types of leads.

As of right now I have not made any money with HG. No sales, No listings. Do I think they are ripping me off? NO, I don’t. I don't know about your market but mine has slowed down big time. But I am still working the ones I have. I will give HG another 2 months to see if I can generate a sale out of it. I really hope I do. If I don’t, then hey! I gave it a try. To me any leads are good leads. It is up to you to filter the good ones from the bad ones. Just like you would with any lead that comes your way. I have gotten more leads from HG than I have my floor time.

Studies have shown that 77% of people are going to the internet for there real estate needs. They are looking at about 8 other agents on the internet as well. It also states that it takes about 6 weeks for these leads to contact the agent or to buy a home. http://www.car.org/library/media/papers/pdf/2007TopProducerDraft4.pdf

What I like about HG’s buyer link is I can set my own budget. I can afford $100 a month to go for the buyer link. What I also like is that if a lead chooses an area that is not bought and it is close to my area, it will trickle down to me. Another thing I like and how HG is different, is you pick cities/towns, not zip codes. Who goes on the internet and searches homes for sale in 91801?

If you are out to look for faults, you are going to find them.

Joslyn…. Naturally this is not just for you. You seem to have a great outlook and headed in the right direction. Now this blogging thing is what is next for me to learn. It seems to be more of “the ticket” to the top of the internet pages. That is my goal as well.

OCT

2007

Lanre - So you haven't had any success with any lead generation systems?

Rockie - Well, blogging here on AR really does help! I think HG would be very useful for me if I was located in a metro area, or even a suburb. Being surrouded by 300+ acre farms that have no internet really doesn't help HG help me. I am always finding ways to catch leads, though, and am interested in it, just not sure if it would be worth my time. You have great input, and I really appreciate it!

OCT

2007

DO NOT waste your time and money on HOMEGAIN stuff. As an agent, I've wasted so much money with their BS leads, it isn't even funny. I would not recommend it. The sales people will push products they do not even believe in. The leads come from third party sources, THE WORST PRODUCT IS ESPECIALLY AGENT EVALUATOR! I SPOKE WITH PEGGY BOEHM AND SHE IS AN IDIOT AND DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW THE PRODUCT REALLY WORKS.

OCT

2007

I concur with "HomeGain is BS". I've also dealt with Peggy Boehm and the woman is rude and very abrassive. I imagine the company is struggling financially so they are attempting to squeeze every single cent out of their agent network. Other HomeGain employees who are equally annoying and I've had the misfortune of dealing with are Janice Ridge and Matt Malmgren. They speak down to agents with arrogance and act like we need them when the opposite is true. Their customer service resembles thuggery and hooliganism of the lowest order. Stay away from HomeGain and spend your money wisely! I cancelled my HomeGain account after a year of crap leads. My money would have been better spent going down the drain. Sorry if I sound angry BUT I AM FED UP WITH THESE "SERVICES"!

HG is BS - I really don't like it when people are selling something that they do not believe in. There's no point in even trying then, in my opinion. That would be like us renting because we don't believe in owning houses, and then trying to sell homes.

Dissatisfied HG Customer - It's sad that it has to be like that. You would think that they would want good reps that make you want to keep doing business with them. Isn't that the point?

DEC

2007

Homegain works like this,
They sell pay per click to the area code you select with and provide you with contact information,
the minimum fee is 250 per month.
The lead overage is past to the Agent Evaluator Program and sold to you at 49.00 to 99.00 per month
These leads do not included contact info.

They then spam the contact to select an agent that is withing and a member of the Evaluator program.
Like in a pyramid scheme only the agent that started with them early get any leads.
Their staff later monitors your sales, and bill you if you sell a property to anyone that has ever login and you sent a proposal from within Homegain.
The now claim all leads as theirs.
Even if the lead came from other sources.
Imagine, you respond to a lead from George W and latter see a home to George Washington :) you get a bill for 30%
These people should be investigated by the feds.

RIP OFF BE AWARE
Cancel your Evaluator account.

AUG

I was thinking of signing up with Homegain. I guess I'll have to think about it some more.

SEP

I think it is what it is... If you work anything hard enough then the results will be there. One of the top producing Realtors in the Dallas Metroplex uses HG and has been for awhile... If you go in with a negative attitude then it usually reflects that in your presentations.

I have not signed up with HG because I am trying out a trafficplus program through my website company that sends potential home buyer's to a landing page to catch their info. I like that so far but I will more than likely sign up with HG once I add a buyer's agent, so he or she can work on developing those leads.

Great posts!

Nick Good

Richardson TX Realtor

469 951 4193 cell

www.NickGood.com

Nick,

Nobody says homegain may not perform for some people. It is odd; but almost all of these 3rd party lead vendors perform for somebody; and so do stock options & futures speculation. But I doubt that anymore tan 1% of people profit by trading futures or options unless they institutions.

Sometimes these 3rd party grouos are very defenseive, because they have very strong sales approaches and once you're in they own you. If everything goes great, good. If everything goes wrong for some reason, they see you as an adversary and can be very abusive and deceitful. The idea is the company is their companyalways right and they ant to be protected from letigation by ever being wrong.

I think homegain may perform better than some, for some; but they still that tyoe of borderline crooked company.

Give them a try!

OCT

Homegain never really worked out for me, I gave it a shot and was disappointed.

I did have some luck with another service called agentmachine. unlike HG, I ddint have to pay a dime for referrals, just at the closing (standard 25 percent).

overall, its a great alternative. After speaking with one of thier reps, i was told its:

A private network, thier leads are 'qualified' (becuase they are commision based, they dont waste time on random leads taht go no where)'

overall: quality over quantity seems to be thier model.

well, thats my 2 cents.

here's a link: www.agentmachine.com

JAN

I worked with multiple agents around the country and have found that there is a better rate of success with Home Gain than the others. In addition, just because someone has a high success or failure rate does not mean the program will or will not work for you. Various factors can change your outcome.

It has been my experience that it does not matter what program or method you use, if you do not work it, nurture the leads, and remain consistent, it does not matter what program you use or how well you optimize your site for the search engines it will not work. Too often people tend to place blame on the lead generating programs when the blame should be placed on the account holder (broker/agent). Like drip campaign programs, you cannot subscribe and expect the program to run on auto pilot.

I have seen poorly written proposals that consist of one or two sentences, outdated information, etc listed on many of the lead programs that are the responsibility of the broker/agent, not the program. One proposal stated, "Thank you but call me so I can find out what you want". Now that sounds very appealing and makes buyers or sellers want to utilize you for their next purchase or the sale of their home. NO WAY! Brokers and agent cannot seem to keep their bio and contact information up-to-date on the MLS. Is it the MLS's fault? If it were up to me, I would fine the broker and agent for inaccurate information. How can buyers and sellers contact you when your phone is disconnected or the email address is invalid?

One agent recently contacted me because she could not understand why her Home Gain account was not benefiting her. Well, once I logged in, she had 78 buyer leads over the past month that she did not even respond to and probably another 50+ that have expired over the past two months. Then, I looked at her proposals, what a waste of money.

Needless to say, I had to write two new proposals to start the process, upload her image, and updated the contact information. After spending three days writing a buyer and seller proposal, and repeated emails being sent for her bio and brief sales history, I finally completed the proposals and got it uploaded. Those outstanding leads are now turning in to success. Having zero buyers and sellers over the past six months has turned in to seven buyers and five sellers! How many of the others could have lead to success?

The point is, it does not matter if the leads are paid for through a lead generating site or if it is a result of blogging and SEO. If you do not work it, the dollar result is ZERO. If you do not have the time or want to take the time to take full advantage of what the programs have to offer, who is to blame? The only problem I find with most of these programs is that it does not send out a confirmation email before providing the seller or buyer with further detail.

I see potential on all lead generating programs if it is used as a tool to supplement current income. Take the time required to work it!

I just started a new Home Gain group for those interested. http://activerain.com/groups/homegain

Carolyn Nelson, Online Real Estate Assistant

FEB

Here we are in 2009 now. I'm curious if you ever got to the #1 ranking on the page.

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