You’ve seen the commercials.  They are all over cable TV, and as a buyer or seller, it is an interesting idea…

Get new listings as soon as they are available from JustListed

Find out what your home is worth from HouseValues

Well, I can give you the skinny from two different perspectives…

First, you might have noticed on the commercials, or you might not…  There is a disclaimer flashed on the screen that says in part that your information will be forwarded to a real estate agent to actually deliver the information.  And, in order to deliver the information, you need to provide valid contact information… like an email address.  Most of the people that respond seem to miss that part of the commercial.  They have no idea that they have just signed up to be contacted by a real estate agent.

Secondly, I actually signed up a few years ago.  JustListed and HouseValues are referred to as “Lead Generation Services” or lead aggregators.  They interpose themselves between consumers and agents, and sell the consumers to agents.

After being involved in their system for a year (with the contract, I was stuck for a year… otherwise I would have been out in a few months), I can say a few things about the way it works… or doesn’t.

To start with , very few of the consumers that signed up were aware that they had just asked to be put in touch with an agent.  Many of the folks didn’t want to provide real contact info.

But perhaps the most important thing is that they were playing REALTOR® Roulette.  There is no control for the consumer on who the agent is that they are assigned to.  I had purchased rights in the Tucker/Lilburn area… but I was getting consumers with needs in places as far away as Douglasville.  It was based on a matrix of how many leads a particular agent had been assigned v. their contracted amount, as well as location.  The problem is that agnets need to be familiar with a local area in order to help buyer, and especially sellers.  Local information is key.  Douglasville is over an hour from me… and I’ve only been there a few times…  I can’t be an expert there.

This is what you can carry away from this. There are much better ways to get the information.  To start with, don’t be afraid to talk with a local agent.  Find one through their blog or website.  Look for someone that knows about the area or the type of house you are looking for.  Whether you are buying or selling, you want someone that values YOU and your business.

If you are a buyer, I have tools like the Client Gateway, which updates you daily on new listings and changes to older listings.  We can focus the criteria to give you the listings for the properties you are most likely to want to see.  Also, you may find that you get some valuable information from my blog and newsletter (feel free to sign up…). Of course, I also have a Property Search on my website… free and no sign-up or information required to surf with it.

If you are a seller, you probably want a CMA or to keep track of property activity in your neighborhood.  For HouseValues, we did “mini-CMAs” which were supposed to be fast and not very well pointed.  If you are actually in the market, you need something much more complete than that.  If you aren’t in the market, then you might actually do better to get on the Client Gateway and have the properties narrowed down to your neighborhood… you’ll get an email when there is a status change on any property through FMLS.  You can also look at listed properties through my Property search.

I like to be pretty low key.  I keep my search free and unfettered.  You won’t have to trade a bunch of information for access.  If you want to tell me who you are, that is fine…  But you don’t have to.

The important thing is for you to find an agent that you can be comfortable with, and not just give you information to an aggregator that is going to sell it to the highest bidder.