Thursday, May 28, 2009

fyi: housevalues.ca

There are tv ads running for a website called housevalues.ca. The suggestion is you get an estimate of the value of your home for free, online, no muss, no fuss. How great is that? Maybe you don't even have to talk to an icky real estate agent ...

Well, not exactly. There is nothing wrong with the site, but I thought you might like to know what it is and how it works. The site is run by an outfit called Market Leader in Washington state. Their customers are real estate agents and brokers. Their product is "lead generation".

You plug in location and contact information. They will give you a couple of listings in your geographic area and somehow (without ever looking at your home or laying human hands and eyes on the process) give a price estimate. They also give your information to the agent who has subscribed to their service for your area.

Again, nothing evil. But the estimate is rather unrefined, and you can get a full market evaluation by calling an agent of your choice anytime you wish.

Just thought you would like to know.

Coming soon, in a similar vein, I'll let you know what you get if you pay $24.95 for BMO's home-buying package.

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