Special offer

My Dirty Little Secret (part 2)

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Home Team
Home Gain's Buyer Link

I told you my first Dirty Little Secret in a post a few weeks ago. Yes, I still farm and am proud of it.  My friend, Joey Aszterbaum commented "So are you going to write another blog post, or are you just going to send me a postcard?"  So with Joey's nudge, I thought I'd tell you my second, dirty little secret.  I use Home Gain's Buyer Link.  There I said it. 

There is little debate that the ability to generate and capture leads can be what separates a successful agent from a mediocre one.  BUT start a discussion about paying for leads and the debate can get downright ugly.  You're likely to hear the words ripoff and parasite used to describe lead generation companies like HomeGain. I've done a product review of Home Gain at the RealtyAgents site where I write product reviews, and I've also posted my experience at the Home Gain Blog.

Home Gain Buyer's Link is a pay per click system. I pay around seventy-eighty cents everytime someone clicks on my link for the cities I chose.  I  have a cap on the amount I can be charged each month. I can change my budget at any time and there is no long-term commitment.  For the past few years, Home Gain's Buyer Link has been responsible for an extra 25 sales a year for my team.  That's a secret I plan to keep!   Shhhhhh

Sharon Simms
Coastal Properties Group International - Christie's International - Saint Petersburg, FL
St. Petersburg FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS
Linda - it's not about what other people think - it's about what works for you. Obviously homegain is working for you, so - Go for it!
Mar 09, 2008 10:36 AM
Christy Powers
Keller Williams Coastal Area Partners - Pooler, GA
Pooler, Savannah Real Estate Agent
I won't say a word. If it works and you get extra sales, then it is definitely worth it. You have to do what works.
Mar 09, 2008 01:30 PM
Harley Ramsey
Keller Williams - Chatsworth, CA
Chatsworth, CA Real Estate
Hi Linda,  Thanks for sharing.  It's always interesting to know what works for other people.  Cheers, Harley
Mar 09, 2008 02:35 PM
Dan Sullivan - DenverNeighborhoodListings.com
RE/MAX - Denver Neighborhood Listings - Denver, CO

I have no doubt that these lead services can provide value.  The problem is that it is all a numbers game, and it can be very expensive to get to the magic number of sales where the income outweighs the expenses.

In the meantime, it is pretty frustrating to keep shelling out $ to get leads like "tommy tutone - 867-5309".  As a result, you will hear the complaints way more often than the success stories.  The successful ones don't want to share.

 

Mar 09, 2008 05:10 PM
Marlene Scheffer
Realty Station - Bremerton, WA
Realtor to Kitsap County, WA

I am currently a Source4Sellers client for Homegain, and I just cancelled my "subscription" about two weeks ago.  It is due to be cancelled and available to other agent later this month.  My issue is that I have been a member for many months, and have only received one over-priced listing from the product. 

Maybe I'm not doing this right?  Maybe there is more I can do to close some of these leads?  Maybe Linda needs to do a class for us, or Louis? 

When I spoke to a customer service rep at hoeGain, I was told that S4S was meant to be a long-term lead generation tool.  Really?  Cause most people who ask for a CMA are thinking if selling soon, or refinancing. 

I would love to keep S4S if it produced more often for me....  Any ideas?

Mar 09, 2008 06:13 PM
Dan Forbes
Bradenton, FL

Your secret is safe with me.  I didn't read a thing. Sshh!

Mar 09, 2008 11:33 PM
Lonn Dugan
Toledo, OH

OK Linda:

This is good info.  Thanks for sharing. 

I used to do OK with homegain myself.  I don't buy into the whole lead gen slam thing.  Some work.     

BUT - I don't think we have the whole story yet. 

You told us you converted 1 in 20, or so, which is about right from experience with web leads.

However, playing devil's advocate for a minute... Can you say what those 25 deals cost in terms of total dollars, time, and energy, to produce and follow up on 500 leads?

First, we know that every click does not produce a lead.  Can you say how many clicks at $.78/ea to produce one lead? 

 

Mar 09, 2008 11:45 PM
Linda Davis
RE/MAX Home Team - Gales Ferry, CT

Lonn- I don't analyze it quite so thoroughly as that.  I spent about $600 a month so I guess you could say it took $300 to produce one sale.  I referred every lead to my buyer's agents.  I didn't make any phone calls so I spent little time or energy to produce the leads except to write the check out every month.  They obviously spent time and energy to make the calls.  They are excellent at following up.

Of the leads that come in, about 1 in 4 leave a good phone number. Of those with a good phone number about 1 in 20 are probably good leads. (I don't require a phone number on my sign ins so I don't get many bogus ones.) Some just sign on, stay awhile and raise their hand when they are ready. Many of them sign on months before they are ready to buy so we just incubate them.

The best customers are obviously past clients and referrals but for those running a team, this is a great way to keep the pipeline filled.  I happen to also think this works well for a single agent looking to build business quickly who doesn't have a lot of past or referral business. 

Someone else asked how quickly it worked.  For me, once HomeGain provided the link to my site, the leads came in immediately.

 

 

 

 

Mar 10, 2008 01:32 AM
Linda Davis
RE/MAX Home Team - Gales Ferry, CT
Marlene - I've never used that product.  I use BuyerLink only.  Feel free to give me a call anytime.
Mar 10, 2008 01:34 AM
Wayne Miller
San Diego, CA

Marlene,

Thank you for sharing you secret, I'll keep this to myself...thank you for sharing.

Mar 10, 2008 01:57 AM
Bob Haywood
McGraw Realtors - Owasso, OK
BobHaywood.com

I choose not to use HomeGain or other pay products for one reason.  They are just attempting to sell back to us clients who are looking at our own listing information to begin with.

Think about it.  You upload your listings to Realtor.com or HG or other sites (or your MLS board does).  Then people go look at those listings, say they're interested in that listing or area and want to be contacted and you get the info, for a fee.

Might work for some folks.  I'd rather spend my precious dollars elsewhere.  Also, notice how aggressive the HG folks are in their comments here.  They used to call me and say things like, "I've got qualified buyers in your area RIGHT NOW who are looking for a Real Estate agent to work with."  Then they head off into their sales pitch.  Very annoying because those qualified buyers are leads that may or may not be actual good leads.

Here's my secret.  Get out of your office everyday and go network with the public.  Get to know people.  Develop relationships.  You'll get all the leads you need/want in that way and they are FREE.

Mar 11, 2008 12:39 AM
Anonymous
Louis Cammarosano

Marlene

Feel free to email me @ Louis@homegain.com

Mar 11, 2008 03:35 AM
#67
Anonymous
Louis Cammarosano

Bob

I agree nothing is better than your own leads. If you can get leads on your own, by all mean do it-afterall why pay for what you can get for free. The point is not everyone can do that. HomeGain helps supplement or replace lead generation activities for a lot of realtors so they can focus on serving thier clients.

Also please note-you can't load your listings on to homegain- we don't offer that feature on Homegain.com. So the argument that you can use to apply to just about everyother company that takes listings feeds from Trulia, to Zillow, to Front door etc does not apply to HomeGain.

 

 

Mar 11, 2008 03:38 AM
#68
Marlene Scheffer
Realty Station - Bremerton, WA
Realtor to Kitsap County, WA
Linda, I'm so glad you posted this!  I will be calling Louis tomorrow to see what he can help me with, and dont be surprised if you get a phone call too.  Thanks!
Mar 13, 2008 10:01 PM
Jolynne Photography, Creative Wedding Photography, Family Portraits, Bar Mitzvahs
Jolynne Photography - Hemet, CA
Bat Mitzvahs, Senior Pictures, Event Photography

Linda...first of all, you will spend many years in purgatory for buying leads.

Second, thanks for the mention.

Third...what do I gotta do to get that postcard? Click on your homebuyer ads? ;)

Mar 17, 2008 08:12 PM
Linda Davis
RE/MAX Home Team - Gales Ferry, CT

Joey - Guess I'm going to need to add you to my mailing list huh?

Buying leads always generates a lot of discussion.  Thanks everyone for keeping it friendly!

Mar 23, 2008 04:43 AM
Kris Ancone
RE/MAX Midlands - Columbia, SC
linda-  what method do you use to capture potential clients information?  Thanks Kris
Apr 10, 2008 03:01 PM
Christopher Myers
Orlando Property Group - Orlando, FL
Greater Orlando and Central Florida Real Estate
I had heard about great results from HomeGain through a few top producers in my company.  I'll definitely have to check it out.  Ok, now that I've seen this, you can delete the post.  LOL
Apr 11, 2008 05:05 AM
Linda Davis
RE/MAX Home Team - Gales Ferry, CT
Kris - I require a sign in on my Birdview IDX site if a client wants detailed information.  That works best for me to get the client info.
Apr 11, 2008 01:12 PM
Ben Myers
The Broker Ben Group at Realty Idaho - Meridian, ID
CEO/Designated Broker
I agree it is all about the follow up once you get the leads.  I think we can get too stuck on getting a high quantity of leads, and not follow up with the leads we are getting.  Sounds like your team is excellent if HomeGain can account for 25 additional sales a year.  Great job!
Apr 29, 2008 10:36 AM