I wanted to post my thoughts on a quite popular real estate website (RealtyTrac.com) and the frustration that I have had with this company.
Many, MANY people go to this website to obtain real estate information, mainly with foreclosures due to them showing up in the first few pages of Google’s search for foreclosures.
Individuals are then directed to a nice map of the US where they can select areas/counties of interest. Once they do that , a VERY large list of properties will come up, enough to make anyone thrilled with the potential of HUNDREDS of foreclosed properties in their area.
While this may seem like a great thing to jump in to, I’ve received tons of calls from individuals who ask me about a property or properties I deal with that are found on RealtyTrac.
The BIGGEST thing I run in to is the inaccuracy of information on the website, in my area, they throw every single property that has almost any legal issue associated with it on to the website. Reviewing the properties that are on the website states that there are 181 properties in my county that are available as foreclosures. This is well over TEN TIMES the number that is available. It may be true that there are 181 delinquent homeowners and the such, but they’re not available at all. In fact, if the homeowner resolves the issue with the bank, which could be a changed address or like to have the bank issue a notice of default, the property will remain on the website.
So , that information they ask you to pay for? It’s not only old , it’s also incorrect the vast majority of time. The “Values” Stated as well are usually grossly incorrect, in my area ,they are posting the amount the lending institution purchased the property at. One property I had listed was asking $124,900 , and the website posted that it was available for $80,000. I received phone calls from several individuals who were crushed to find out that they couldn’t buy the home for $80,000. The property went on to sell for $118,500 after repeated notices to these RealtyTrac buyers that the home was well in the range of the $124,900 asking price. THEY PAID TO RECEIVE INCORRECT INFORMATION!
Not only that, many real estate agents are convinced to pay a monthly fee or such to receive the names and phone numbers of the people who view homes on the website. Not everyone knows that many of these “Free” websites like homegain.com and housevalues.com sell your name & Phone number to the highest bidder.
It’s very upsetting to see the impact of technology on a industry that does not always have professional rooting in technology.
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