Commercial PropertyHouseFront Introduces Ad Program Based On Public Records Search
Every day there are more and more ways to search and get information on homes online – whether they are for sale or not.
The question is - how the companies that provide the services make money.
Ten years ago, homes for sale provided by MLS organizations and brokers were the hot ticket, and Realtor.com was the victor in the listings wars with the most listings displayed. While Realtor.com was adept at putting other companies out of business, including Microsoft HomeAdvisor, HomeSeekers, and others, it"s never really turned a profit.
Today, new companies such as Zillow and Cyberhomes are going around Realtors to provide information on homes derived from public data. They want to turn a profit, too.
What all these companies seem to have in common is that the information should be free to the consumer, and subsidized by the real estate industry. Realtors provide the listings, and then pay to cut through the noise to get in front of the consumer:
Realtor.com charges agents for "enhancements" to their listings.
Zillow gives free listing enhancements to agents, and charges "large organizations" for targeted ads that "identify and connect online with homeowners who are on the verge of making major home-related purchases such as moving or updating the home they currently own."
Trulia gets property listings information supplied by brokers and brokerage and directs traffic to brokers and brokerage Websites. The firm has just introduced Trulia Agent Featured Listings, a listings enhancement program similar to Realtor.com"s.
Now a new company believes it has a better mouse-trap, something that will please information-hungry consumers and lead-hungry agents. Agents send money to HouseFront and tells the company how they want to spend it. To keep it simple, the agent may budget $50 to be the highest bidder on five leads in a particular neighborhood. That"s $10 a lead. The leads should be solid because the consumer has already raised his/her hand by inquiring about the house.
The beauty of it is its simplicity. The house can be for sale, listed by another broker, but only the agent who is paying HouseFront gets the inquiry. The agent only pays for as many leads as he or she wants. And if enough leads come in, the agent can even "pause" the system, so there"s no time limit on when their money is gone.
It"s like putting money into the bank and taking leads out of the ATM.
HouseFront has accumulated information on 105 million homes (there are only 106 million in the country.) using public records. Any consumer can ask for information on any home simply by text-messaging HouseFront on their cellphone/PDA. HouseFront sends the tax roll data back along with an current evaluation of the home, provided by a proprietary formula used by real appraisers to determine market value.
If the consumer wants to schedule a showing, that"s how the company gets the lead to turn over to the Realtor. They schedule the showing and then sell it to the highest bidder. The agent who wins calls the consumer and confirms the appointment and begins the getting-to-know-you process. It"s as close to a sure thing as an agent can get, in an online world where most consumers are staying invisible.
It"s easy for consumers, too. Explains James Eberhard, CEO of HouseFront, "HouseFront is a full real estate search and evaluation tool so people can search for homes how they want - without sitting down at a computer. All they need is a cellphone."
He points out that there are about 230 million cellphones in the U.S., and HouseFront supports just about every brand. Just text-message 46873, put in the address of the home, and "detailed property information" comes right back at you.
Eberhard says the company isn"t actively engaged in selling homes, so it"s not a direct competitor to portals such as Realtor.com, at least not yet, but there"s no question it"s a competitor to any online service that sells advertising to real estate agents.