Complaint Review: Housevalues.com - Alaska

Bogus Leads? That is what everyone complains about! "I paid for 10 leads and I expect..." What is it that you're expecting? Gold? Money to grow on trees? What are you expecting that HouseValues is not delivering? The commercial that drives consumers (leads) to the website in the first place clearly states at mid-screen level "thinking of selling?" "get a free home value report and comparables". When the consumer goes to the website, the first thing written is: "Welcome to HouseValues.com. If you're thinking of selling your home in the next year, this FREE service will help you find your home's current market value and a suggested listing price. Click here to see a sample report. To receive your free home valuation, simply enter your ZIP Code/Postal Code in the box below, and we'll take it from there!" Do consumers go to this site even if they're not thinking of selling their home? Of course they do! Does that mean they're never going to sell their home? Of course not! Thats why on top of providing a guaranteed amount of exclusive leads each month, HouseValues also provides an award winning contact management system for each of its subscribers! If you're a real estate agent, you know that real estate is a long term business. No one wakes up and decides to buy/sell that day. Its a process. HouseValues provides the first step for that process. HouseValues sells an opportunity to meet individuals that an agent would have never gotten into contact with before. If you're looking for a QUICK FIX or THE PERFECT SYSTEM, I hate to burst your bubble, it doesnt exist. Go put your hopes and dreams into the lotto system. An independant research firm, RealIQ, tracked independently the conversion rates of leads generated by HouseValues. They found that 1 out of 5 leads converted into a closed transaction within 12 months of being generated. Who the lead ended up doing the transaction with is up to the agent. There is too much competition out there for a consumer to work with a lazy or bad agent. You never know who sits behind a computer screen so you cant prejudge. When is the last time that you were on the internet and disclosed exactly what you could afford for a house? Most people are leary of the internet because they are not sure exactly where the information will end up. Think about it, would you yourself, knowing what you know about the internet willingly provide your complete name, home phone number, address and that you could afford a $500,000 house? Probably not right? So why assume that the average Joe would? HouseValues will create the "handshake" its up to the agent to do some work and dig and get to the bottom of what the consumer wants. If "Moon Beam" requests a CMA, then send them one and address it to Moon Beam. Remember, if the email address is undeliverable, you can return the lead within 30 days. You'll be surprised to know that Moon Beam will respond back to you with their real name. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But they will when you provide them with the information of what they're asking for. HouseValues goes even above and beyond by providing a guarantee in the number of leads that will be delivered EXCLUSIVELY to an agent each and every month. How many other marketing strategies provide a guarantee in how many leads will be delivered? How many of those other marketing strategies provide those leads to one agent exclusively? Aside from the leads, HouseValues also provides coaching and training to teach agents how to use the system. They're not going to leave you high and dry unless thats how you treat the system. If you pay for a gym membership, its not up to the gym to get your butt on the treadmill. You have to work it yourself. Same with HouseValues. They also provide you with a personal website and contact management system. Why are those things never mentioned when people complain. It seems that more and more, people are looking for an easy way out. I'm not perfect and I admit its easier to place blame upon others before myself, but in reality, a real estate agent is the same as any other agent. The difference between a good and successful agent and a bad agent is that one works harder than the other. Its like an 'A' student and a 'D' student in school. They're provided with the same education its just that the 'A' student did what they were supposed to do and worked a little harder for their grade. HouseValues provides top producing agents with the same system as they provide with all the "complainers" who use the system. Whats the difference? The top producers understand that not every lead will convert. They understand that each lead needs to be treated the same. They understand that if they're not interested now, they will be at some point down the road so they hold on to that information and take advantage of the contact management system that is provided. Bottom line is this. You're an adult. No one forced you to sign up for anything you didnt want to do. No one lied to you. You heard what you wanted to hear because you knew/know your business needs help. Take some accountability. Sure, not every lead will be great. Sure some of the leads will never contact you. Sure even some of them will have names like "Ben Dover". But for each one of those you go through, it'll bring you one step closer to that transaction you've been waiting for. Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on what will get your business headed in the right direction. CALL YOUR COACH! Thats what they're there for. When is the last time you called your local paper that you're advertising in and complained about the guy who just called you about a listing you had and didnt give you their name or number? WHAT? You dont complain about that? BUT YOU PAID FOR THAT AD!!!!! I know this is a little long winded, but the only people who usually complain about things like this are people who dont give anything a fair chance. Go to http://www.agentsuccessnetwork.com/success/default.aspx to read up on what some successful HouseValues agents are saying.

I was an Account Executive for HouseValues for over a year. I spoke to thousands of RE agents during my employment. When I hear or read any negativity toward HouseValues I have to wonder how strong the Real Estate agents business is in the first place. HouseValues marketing is not a be all, end all solution. Many agents go into a subscription for leads with the mindset that it will be the magic bullet they have been looking for. With the majority of HV subscribers having success, why do some fail? It is the individual agent who lack some common business skills, that is why. Don't blame the system - take a close look at you're business. Do you even have a well written business plan? I can say from experience that HV sales reps are not order takers, and everyone there truly wants each individual agent to succeed with the marketing they provide. I cannot tell you how many testimonials I received every week. With most agents doing well, it saddens me to hear that some do fail. Do not take it out on HV. How is you're market doing? Do you have strong pipeline building skills? There are many factors that contribute to an agent not being successful, not just with HV marketing, but many other facets of RE in general...

Larry, to be fair to the agents that bought into this, we all received a call from a salesperson that seemed to be on the up and up. Housevalues has a program that takes a little while to learn and conference calls that they insist you listen to, in order to get certified. There is a Stacy Dancey that talks about all of her success she has with the program. Basically how much money she is making. Yes, we typically make money when we successfully close a transaction. That may not be the only reason we sell real estate, but it's an important part. I enjoy selling homes for more reasons than just money. Some of believe we are helping people. Needless to say, Recently I looked on California DRE and couldn't find Stacy's name as a licensed agent or broker. On housevalues website, they show her in california. I fell for thier scam, so yes, I'm an idiot, but in my defense, it's a pretty elaborate scam. And yes, there are many personalities in the real estate business as I'm sure there are in any business. And I know it hurts to pay an agent to sell your home, but in many cases they are your best option.

Housevalues.com advertises to the consumer that they can find out what their homes are worth. That's a lie, of course. There is no useful consumer information available on housevalues.com. The website's name is intended to mislead the consumer and is, therefore, a fraud. The whole purpose of the site is to get the consumer to give up his contact information so that some real estate agent can pester him into selling his home. The consumer sees the advertising for housevalues.com, goes to the website, discovers that he is not going to get what was offered without getting pestered, and responds by putting in names like Ben Dover, Jim Shue, and Chuck Roast. The funny part is that housevalues.com sells those fake names to real estate agents. This one here says he pays 600 freaking dollars a month for at least 10 names. That's $60 for Ben Dover. $60 for Jim Shue. $60 for Chuck Roast. The real estate agent bought into this thinking he could profit from the housevalues.com scam only to find that he is the real victim. To make it a little funnier, a real estate agent is not qualified in many states to make an appraisal. But the truly hysterical part of all this is that the real estate agent wants to represent a seller or a buyer or both in a sales contract for hundreds of thousands of dollars yet he cannot figure out how to get himself out of fraudulent contract for bogus leads. That's not the guy I want on my side.

I have a feeling I am going to get totally screwed by housevalues.com and justlisted.com . They decided to change their no-questions-asked lead return policy. As everyone on here has expressed, the leads are not qualified and are bogus, so the elimination of that policy is absolutely necessary. Here is the email that I got from them today, titled "Lead return policy changes go into effect July 1, 2007" Greg, As you know, HouseValues is here to help agents like you grow your real estate business. We do this by offering the training and tools you need to earn more money in less time, while also introducing you to prospective home buyers and sellers in your neighborhood. Core to the effectiveness of our multimillion dollar TV and online campaigns that generate a consistent flow of consumer requests is the trust that prospective home buyers and sellers place in HouseValues and our network of successful real estate agents. Since broadening our lead return policy in August, we have seen some declines in responsiveness to consumer requests for information on the part of some agents who choose to serve only what they perceive as hot prospects'. This practice not only results in unfulfilled requests to consumers, but as we know from working with thousands of agents, it also results in less success for you, our agent customer. Treating all leads the same is a basic tenet of how our best producing agents grow their business. To hear them tell their stories click here. To improve responsiveness to consumers and to give you the opportunity to close more transactions for greater success, we are modifying our lead return policy. As of July 1, 2007, you are entitled and encouraged to return any lead that is not valid due to the email address being undeliverable or because the person who submitted the lead is a real estate agent. In all other cases, it is vital for the success of your business that you provide great customer service by responding to consumer requests. The result of all agents following this practice will serve us well as we build our business collectively on the trust and loyalty of prospective home buyers and sellers in neighborhoods across the United States and Canada. We are here to help you build your business the best way we know how. For more information on how to turn leads into solid business, please attend the Million Dollar Pipeline webinar or enroll in our Power Track training series. As always, if you have any questions or would like personal assistance in building your real estate business, please call us at 1-877-732-0360. We are here to serve you seven days a week. Best of Success, Peter Quinn Vice President Customer Operations 1-877-732-0360 **If anyone has seen their contract, it is totally and completely written in their favor, even if they send you false or unqualified leads. Oh, one of my leads from housevalues was "Ben Dover" (I'm not kidding)