Jan. 4, 2006 - The Enemy Inside Your Television Set
So I am watching the news this morning and there it is, the "What is your home worth?" HouseValues.com commercial. What in the world is HouseValues.com? Allow me to tell you. They are yet another company who is out there working to drive up the commission you pay when you hire a REALTORŪ to sell your property. How is that you ask? Well my friends, House Values is going to sell your information to the unlucky agents who PAY them for the privilage of doing a market analysis for you. Now I'm not sure, you may or may not be selling your home, you might just want to know (as well you should) how much worth your house adds to your bottom line. These poor agents who are out there BUYING your information, in the hopes that you will be listing with them, are therefore going to have to increase their commissions in order to make up the loss.
My question to you is this: Why in the world would anyone want to give their information to a company that is not going to do your market analysis, but is for sure going to sell it to someone else, when they could simply go to my website and request one free of charge, no strings attached, knowing that I am the only one getting your information?
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Comments (5) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
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Jan. 5, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by Anonymous |
| Hey Gene the reason that people would do that is because some of them do not know that these companies are selling their information to someone else. Most of the time the people are told some thing other then what really happens and the company makes their money. If anyone who visits your site and is looking for any kind of counseling on real estate I will recommend that they should they probably won't find someone as caring of an agent as yourself. I have worked with you when I was investing in real estate and I am working with you now as a Mortgage Consultant and the reason is I have always looked to work with people that are honest in what they say and do. I look forward to the work that we will continue to do in the future as well. Thank you for this blog and once some of the consumers realize what this is it will make it easier for them to access and learn things without getting into something they are not sure what they are getting in. |
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Jan. 13, 2006 - House Values |
| Posted by Anonymous |
Housevalues is NO value. I did hundreds of CMA's. Only one listings and it didn't sell. I was paying 700 per month, and then I stopped. I agree we should stop using 3rd level companies that give the leads back to us for a fee.
Missy Caulk
Ann Arbor, MI
Missy@missyCaulk.com |
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Jan. 13, 2006 - HouseValues.com |
| Posted by Anonymous |
Companies like Housevalues.com exist because of the gulability of sales people. All agents want to think there is a magic pill that will give them tons of new business. Just spend $xxx per month and get 100's of leads! It's easy - no work required!!!
My previous broker had an "exclusive" with housevalues.com for two zip codes. I personally have done hundreds of CMAs for these leads and only got one listing (which turned out to be in foreclosure!). I'm glad it was him spending $1000++ per month for this junk instead of me!
Why are the leads sooo bad? Because half of the people asking for information have no clue they are just a lead to be sold to a realtor. They don't see that tiny line on the bottom of the page that says their info will be forwarded to a Realtor. They think they can just input beds/baths and the computer will spit out a house value for them. The other half know that their info is being forwarded but don't want to be bugged by a sales person so they enter bogus contact info. Housevalues.com doesn't care - it's another lead to sell!
John Stevens
Charles Rutenberg Realty
Plainfield, IL |
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Jan. 23, 2006 - Consumer Reports' MONEY ADVISER 02/06 SAYS ... |
| Posted by Anonymous |
behind the hype: FREE INTERNET HOME APPRAISALS THAT AREN'T
"The bottom line: When you use HouseValues.com, you give the Web site the unrestricted right o sell your information to real-estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others. You can avoid spreading your name around town as well as obtain an estimated property-value range and a list of the selling prices of comparable homes in your area by paying $5 to SmartHomeBuy.com (www.SmartHomeBuy.com). The site also lists crime rates, public and private school information , and hazardous waste sites in areas where you may be house shopping."
Pat Rioux, broker/owner www.ListForLess.com |
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Feb. 17, 2006 - Right on! |
| Posted by Peter Macdonald |
REF:"Who loves ya baby and eieio"
Well Mr Molloy thanks for the poetry and a touch of encourgement that I can swill down here in the NJ cranberry blogs. I'll be sure to visit yours.
Peter Macdonald
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Here you will find thoughts, opinions, rantings, ravings, news, views and other things I think you may find useful. I will publicly answer questions here, so that many may benefit from the curiosity of my visitors, community created content if you will. I am trying to attract "experts" in various fields to comment on different topics of interest, we will see.
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