My experience is apparently different
from the majority. I signed up for a minimal subscription with them, for
buyer leads. In 2 years I spent approximately $6000 on subscription fees
and had 5 closed transactions for a a total of about $20,000 in
commissions. This is clearly not the way to instant riches, and yes, it IS
WORK to respond to all the lame leads. However, my calculator informs me
that I did indeed come out ahead on this deal. This was business that
would have gone to someone else. I think the idea is to keep it in
perspective, respond to the leads diligently, but then drop the ones that don't
want an agent and forget about it. 1 sale for every 25 leads or so, so you
give the good ones a chance to surface, take those, and move on. So, after
2 years, I decided that it was proven I would make money, and proven that I
would not lose my investment, so I recently increased my
subscription.
Like I said some fall through the cracks. But by in large these thieves make their money selling ((information)). My calculator says you spent 6 grand to net 14 grand. Wow! You call that a success story? I call that a whole lot of work and frustration. I think the next trend in real restate sales will be one on one communication, people meeting people on a local level. Until we get back to basics the Internet is way to impotent to deliver the goods. Technology is fun and I really like the speed of DSL but spending 6 to make 14 is like working at Home Depot or Lowes walking the floor for 11 bucks an hour plus benefits.
First, I must say that you can't put stock into what everybody has to say. I know...I know...Where there is smoke there is fire, but sometime you have to take a chance.
A couple years back, my husband and I signed up for HV for the $325/month plan for buyers. We were promised a certain number of leads per month, but got way over that due to not many agents in my area using the system. I don't know what the percentages were, but I would say the majority were bad leads. FYI - I do know how they get them.
To make a long story short...I didn't do the calls...I did the drip campaigns and sent my own personal emails with listings directly from me. After a couple months, I closed around 6 deals all in a row, paying nearly 4 times the yearly fee. I then got pregnant and couldn't commit to working as much, so I cancelled my service. 3 years later (2007) a past client, received from HV, called me up out of the blue and wanted to purchase a $1.4 million dollar home. They came into town, made a few concessions and closed in 60 days or less.
As you can see I had a positive experience. Again, I didn't do what they said...(Constant Calling/Emailing/Postcards)..Just steady contact. I don't care about a 6 figure income, I just want to come and go as I wish and work as hard as I want to work. We are considering doing it again, as our ROI is currently through the roof with this system. I agree, there are some negatives, many which have been mentioned on this site (particularly the bad leads)...But sometimes you have to make a decision on your own and reap the rewards.
Robert: If you could put $6000 in the stock market and get $8000 back in two years you'd be doing very well. Yes, we do more work then watch the stock price tick up but it's still a good ROI.
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