Did You Know?
Websites like Zillow, Trulia and others can destroy your finances and peace of mind. Read below the Map Search to see how. Note: The best homes are bought immediately. Register for instant notification of Just Listed Homes. You will NOT receive a barrage of spam and phone calls from pesky agents.
How Using Zillow, Trulia and Other Real Estate Websites Can Hurt You and Your Family
Here is The Bottom Line.
1. “Lead Generation companies” and criminals know that an estimated 90% of home buyers start their search online.
2. They know that if they “capture” your contact information, many real estate agents will pay between $500-$1000 a month for that information.
3. The Scammers also know that through legal loopholes they can get the real estate agent to pay them up to 30% of their commission (sometimes even more!)
4. What is worse is that REAL real estate brokerages and companies that run popular real estate websites have decided that they can make money more easily by selling your contact information as a “referral” for 15 – 35% of the commission, rather than providing quality real estate services!
5. What is even worse is that actual Philadelphia Area BROKERS have got in on the scam. They “capture” your contact information and then give it to one of their agents and charge them up to 60% of the commission as a “warm lead.”
How does this hurt you?
1. They may sell your information multiple times so you will get a ton of spam email and phone calls from agents or other “lead scrubbers” who will pressure you.
2. You will likely end up hiring the first agent you talk to – who is unfortunately inexperienced OR telling you what you want to hear. Like your home is worth more than it really is!
3. You will likely end up hiring agents who are desperate to get any client and get you to buy a home even if it is not in your best interests. (This is what happened during the real estate bubble.)
Why are many agents desperate?
Because the average agent only does 7 transactions a year, their actual income is very little, around $18,000. Desperate is an accurate description. No wonder 70% of current agents will quit the business by 2014.
Here is a typical example.
- Let’s say you buy a home for $300,000.
- The Total Commission to your Real Estate Agent is $9,000
- The “Lead Capturer” takes 20% so (minus) $1,800 = $7,200
- Your agent’s Broker takes another 40% s0 (minus) $3,600
- Your agent only keeps $3,600 before expenses.
- Then, your agent loses $540 to expenses and another $1,080 to the IRS.
- Now your agent is down to keeping only $1,980 for their family.
Why is that bad?
The average agent closes 7 transactions per year so their net income would be less than $18,000.
Do you want to be represented on the largest purchase of your lifetime by someone who earns less than a Wal-Mart’ greeter?
Do you think that agent might sell out your best interests to get a commission check?
Do you think this is unfair to you and your family?
To protect you and your family from these scammers and “lead sellers” who don’t actually do any work for you, we put www.PaHouseQuest.com online with the best real estate search engines.
Search. Register. You’ll find a lot of other things that can protect and help you buy or sell a home.
Don’t worry. No agent will call you to pressure you or send you spam email.
Avoid scams and spam by avoiding Craigslist, Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and most of the other “Big Company” websites listed on Google, Yahoo and Bing.
If you have questions, we’re happy to answer them for you. Many of our consultations for buyers and listing presentations for sellers are done via “zero-pressure” webinars.
Regards,
James Harner
www.PaHouseQuest.com
Uncommon Experiences. Extraordinary Results.