4359171984?profile=originalPaying for "leads" is ineffective in our view, and not a judicious use of your time or money. That may be a stark statement coming from a leads provider, right? Why would a leads provider tell agents not to pay for leads? The answer is we do not provide leads. We provide data, and there is a huge difference. You can pay a lot of money to a leads provider and leave the results to chance. Or you can shape your own destiny, at a much lower cost by generating your own leads using early and accurate pre-foreclosure data.

Diamonds and cubic zirconium may look the same, but there's a vast difference in worth between the real gem and its fake twin. Agents face the same dilemma in their campaigns when determining whether they are purchasing data or leads. The difference between data and leads isn't as clear cut as it may seem, just like that sparkly diamond may be worth less than a lollipop ring.

A good example is our prescreen credit data. The credit bureaus really don't sell "leads". That has wrong written all over it. Yet our tri-bureau platform can identify homeowners being reported by their lender as 30, 60, 90 or 120+ days delinquent on their mortgage, before the NOD or Lis Pendens is filed. Unlike a "lead", distressed homeowners in our database didn't directly contact your company for help. What we provide is raw data - the building blocks of a marketing campaign that can educate distressed homeowners on their alternatives to foreclosure and get them to work with you. Our data identifies the best prospects for a short sale, which you can convert into a qualified lead. In other words, our data equips you to cost-effectively generate your own leads without relying on outside sources.

In contrast, a leads company provides live or so called "warm leads" and does what you as a real estate professional should do on your own. In turn, they charge an exorbitant cost per lead. Hiring a traditional leads provider can be a very costly endeavor. Costs vary depending on the actual campaign that is being conducted, including SEO, PPC, direct mail, email and telemarketing campaigns, but you can easily pay $10 or more for a so-called warm prospect generated by a lead generation company. These companies factor in their hard costs and a margin of profit to price their lead generation programs.

While leads can be cost prohibitive, data is much more affordable. Rather than paying upwards to $10 per lead, you can obtain highly qualified data much more affordably. In addition to lower cost, prescreen credit data allows you to be more selective in who you target, thereby building a list of the most qualified and lucrative group of homeowners.

You can pay good money for a "lead" of a homeowner who's house is going to auction next week. Or a homeowner who's house is worth $40,000 and not worth the time and aggravation of a short sale. Perhaps the homeowner has four mortgages, requiring you to negotiate with four different banks, or maybe they have been pulling equity out of their home, rendering it nearly impossible for the lender to agree to a short sale. It's possible that the homeowner owns a condo, and you don't want to deal with the HOA. There are several other scenarios you can probably think of that you want to avoid. By using prescreen credit data, you can build a highly targeted list based on the number of days delinquent, loan balance range, number of mortgage trades, dwelling type, and other precise attributes to lower your marketing cost and increase your return on investment through more completed transactions.

By paddling your own canoe and using data to generate your own leads, you are the decider of what "lead" is qualified. You are the real estate expert, not a sales rep in a call center of a leads generation company. You can waste a lot of time and money on a lead that has a zero chance of leading to a completed short sale transaction.

In parting thoughts, I'll use the analogy of the Home Depot, who's motto is, "You can do it. We can help." We give you the tools to build the house, or more appropriately, list the house.

Who's your niche audience? Enter your criteria here and we will provide a free area analysis of how many distressed homeowners need the help of a short sale expert.

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