I learned everything I know about real estate online lead generation and management during my tenure at HomeGain.com. I’ve had the privilege to build some amazing relationships with business partners and Realtors in our common goal to master real estate lead generation. One of those companies was BoomTownROI. It was a fateful conversation when my colleague introduced me to BoomTownROI as he was boasting about this so called end to end real estate lead generation and management company that had helped his current client double their conversion rates on Buyerlink traffic. I was struggling to find a third party solution that could help my brokers and agents convert the traffic we were sending them at a higher rate than the measly industry average of 3-5% visit to lead conversion ratio. I knew that our buyer traffic generated from Buyerlink was as good as any other traffic source out there, but I quickly realized that the source of traffic cannot in and of itself produce a successful online marketing campaign. The end destination for that prospective home buyer (the realtor’s landing page on his website in this case) is just as tantamount…(to be continued)
HomeGain is 10 years old. If HomeGain were a dog, it would be 62 years 
old. I don’t know how to calculate gorilla years, which would be a more fitting comparison given that Max the gorilla is HomeGain’s mascot. But what’s important is that in INTERNET YEARS, 10 years is an eternity.
To put this into perspective, 10 years ago Alta Vista and Lycos got more unique visitors than Google, who was the awkward new kid on the block in the search engine realm. Anyone still use Alta Vista and Lycos today?
Now just because you’re old doesn’t mean you’re good, but there is something to be said when a business model can survive 10 years in a sector as volatile and brutal as Real Estate, and real estate online marketing in particular.
How many entrepreneurial ideas that were hyped up to be revolutionary and
industry-shaping actually materialized through the dot.com bust? How many supposedly life-changing online services that were being conceptualized, funded, and released in audaciously rapid succession actually delivered more than a cheap, temporary IPO stock rally?
10 years ago, Brad Inman founded HomeGain.com claiming that it will change the way homes are sold. He evangelized that it will dramatically cut down on the time and expense of selling a home, and will save real estate agents valuable time and energy, allowing them to get back to the business of selling homes. Well, Brad sold enough venture capitalists to get out their check books and bankroll his idea to make www.homegain.com a reality.
And HomeGain has been delivering on this promise for 10 consecutive years, while adding Buyer-centric marketing tools such as HomeGain’s Buyerlink and a slew of other marketing services for Realtors to connect with prospective homebuyers and sellers.
HomeGain may not be a media darling and get the kind of fanfare that Trulia or Zillow has garnered over the past couple of years, but they’re fine with quietly posting profits year after year and providingdemonstrable return on investment to their clients for 10 straight years.
So kudos to you HomeGain for delivering on your promise 10 years ago to change the way Real Estate transactions are made, and in honor of this commendable acheivement, here is a Yims Blog Top Ten Facts about HomeGain…Drum Roll Please:
10) HomeGain released the 1st ever instant home valuation tool in 2000. 
Yes, even before Zillow turned it into a circus and allowed people to find the value of Bill Gates’ house.
9) HomeGain receives 4-5 million unique visitors per month
8. HomeGain surveyed over 2,000 real estate agents nationwide and configured a list of the top 10 moderately priced home improvements that will benefit sellers most when they sell their homes and released this return on investment calculator to the public as HomeSale Maximizer tool.
7) HomeGain released the first virtual blogging school where Realtors can receive free 
blogging lessons for their Agentview Blog platform from “blog professor” Joseph Ferrara of Sellsius Real Estate Blog, a veteran in real estate blogging.
6) HomeGain has 5,000+ real estate agents and brokers in its clientele. This is paying clientele mind you. I’m not sure Trulia nor Zillow can say the same, although their Weight Watchers and Netflix ads provide very entertaining distractions to consumers searching for homes (please take note of the sarcasm, it’s very purposeful)
5) HomeGain launched a Green Real Estate Campaign on Earth Day 2009 to 
promote green real estate practices and give a platform for this movement.
4) HomeGain has produced 50,000+ real estate transactions representing over $10 Billion in home sales in the past 10 years.
3) Over 800 real estate agents have earned in excess of $50,000 in commissions from HomeGain’s Agent Evaluator program.
2) HomeGain announced 2 real estate agents who have earned over $1 million in real estate commissions using the Agent Evaluator program.
1) HomeGain redesigned HomeGain.com in the 4th quarter of 2008, and good thing because the old site was plain ugly.
Before:
After:
Green Real Estate is Contagious – Join the Bandwagon
April 24, 2009
Come jump on the green real estate bandwagon while you can! It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what “going green” really means. It’s come to a point where green lifestyle has influenced business practices, so don’t be late on this realtors!
As I wrote in my last post, promoting yourself as a green real estate agent is imperative in setting yourself apart from your competition. Of course, there’s the whole doing good for the earth component as well, for those of you who actually care.
HomeGain jumped on the Green Real Estate bandwagon this past week and has even created a whole new page dedicated to raising green awareness in the community and real estate industry as a whole. The bandwagon is big enough for all of you real estate agents, so jump on!
