The Close Scorecard

Pros

• Has built-in lead capture tools
• Has integrations with CRM
• Provides phone and email support
• Leverages artificial intelligence for lead conversions

Cons

• Doesn’t provide free trial
• Lacks IDX website features
• Doesn’t offer team distribution capabilities
• Only provides customer service during business hours

The Close Score

4.7

Pricing:

3.8

Lead generation features:

4.4

Advanced lead generation features:

3.4

Customer service:

2.5

Customer rating:

3.1

Expert score:

3.9

out
of

5

My Verdict on Offrs & Why You Should Trust It

As a meticulous real estate technology tracker, I spent hours researching and testing lead generation platforms to offer agents sound insights. My immense experience lets me provide an in-depth Offrs review and draw sharp conclusions based on a profound understanding of the product and needs of real estate professionals at large.

What differentiates Offrs from the rest in the ocean of lead generation tools is its advanced predictive analytics and the ability for agents to obtain exclusive leads that their brokerages may otherwise not provide. Offrs’s value for agents lies in its leverage of artificial intelligence to identify potential sellers before their homes ever hit the market. However, like any other tool, it may not always fit into the wheelhouse of every real estate agent, especially those looking to represent buyers.

All in all, Offrs provides a rather well-built lead gen solution, especially for those users who benefit from the early stages of seller leads. After a close look at the feature set, usability, and value proposition, I came to this conclusion so that you can use this review as a guide in your decision-making process.

Offrs Alternatives

Some agents might look for other alternative lead generation platforms due to cost, the learning curve for its advanced features, or the need for an all-in-one platform that covers more in terms of marketing and CRM tools. Exploring other options could provide a better budgetary fit, more functionality, or a better match with the overall business strategy.

Platform	Why It’s a Great Alternative	Learn More	Ready to Purchase?
	Allows agents to create IDX websites for lead generation	CINC Review	Visit CINC
	Can distribute leads via round-robin to team members	Market Leader Review	Visit Market Leader
	Provides access to voicemail scripts that can help agents convert leads	Zurple Review	Visit Zurple

What Current Users Think of Offrs 

Offrs has quite a mix of reviews from all its users, with an overall customer rating of 3.3 out of 5 on Sitejabber. Some agents have found value in its Big Data capabilities and lead generation. Others’ experiences have been quite varied. Before deciding, it’s helpful to read Offrs reviews to see how other agents have benefited from the platform.

Some real estate agents have expressed concerns about certain aspects of the platform, which have contributed to the overall rating. Here is what one user had to say about their less-than-ideal experience.

Key Features of Offrs 

Offrs has positioned itself as a top option for any real estate agent looking to harness the power of predictive analytics for their lead generation. Offrs believes it’s arming agents with the edge they need to win listings by providing leads for potential sellers before they ever hit the market. Its technology and approach set it apart in the crowded lead generation space. Below, we’ll run through five top features that help Offrs stand out as a real estate professional.

Free Marketing Plan

It includes a free marketing plan as part of the full service offered by Offrs. This plan provides a personalized way for agents to maximize their lead generation effort by suggesting how many leads are needed from Offrs for agents to reach their desired gross commission income. The plan also considers the zip code agents are interested in to obtain their lead number. The marketing plan gives agents a starting point for helping them reach their desired financial goals from the platform alone. 

Exclusive Leads

One of the standout features of Offrs is its exclusive leads offering. Unlike other platforms that sell leads to multiple agents, Offrs exclusively provides leads within a specified territory. This uniqueness reduces competition and increases the chances of converting that lead into a client. This specificity allows an agent to focus on cultivating these leads without fighting for the same prospects as other professionals.

ISA Team

Another critical factor that makes Offrs standout is the ISA Team. This team of inside sales agents ensures pre-qualification of leads, so the agents only deal with people ready to engage. They make the initial contact, confirm interest, and gather details necessary to make it easy for the agents to follow through on closure. This support layer streamlines the lead conversion process and generally raises productivity.

Predictive Seller Leads

Predictive seller leads are at the very core of what is offered by Offrs. Using sophisticated algorithms coupled with big data analysis, Offrs points out those homeowners likely to sell soon. Knowing exactly when people sell lets real estate agents get in touch before they list their properties, providing a much-needed edge in securing new listings. One of the biggest reasons agents join Offrs is this predictive lead generation accuracy, which allows them to get an edge over the competition.

Lead Capture Ads

Offrs also provides lead capture ads and landing pages designed to help agents generate leads directly from their online advertising campaigns. The ads are specifically set up and optimized to capture contact information from interested prospects and place it directly into the agent’s lead pipeline. With Offrs handling ad creation and targeting, agents can focus on converting the leads into clients. It’s a great feature for real estate agents and those looking to grow and attract new business through digital marketing.

Offrs Pricing

Offrs has variable pricing depending on the size of the region or zip code that an agent would want to target but requires a 6-month commitment to a contract. This pricing scheme allows agents to scale their lead generation efforts according to their budget and desired market coverage while committing to a longer-term investment. It is also worth noting that the pricing may vary by zip code, and no free trial or free plans are available in Offrs. 

Subscriptions start as low as $200 per month to target a region with about 4,000 homes. For example, for those targeting coverage of a whole zip code, it would cost around $300 a month for nonexclusive access and $600 per month for exclusive rights to the leads of a specific area. Their pricing model is a per-property fee, wherein Offrs charges $0.05 a month for every property in a targeted area and $0.10 per property if someone wants exclusivity.

Methodology

Our team at The Close performs extensive research to identify a list of the most efficient lead-generation platforms for real estate professionals. With due care, we have considered Offrs’ ability to generate leads, available features, ease of use, pricing framework, and quality of customer support extended to users. In addition, we went through user feedback and ratings to find out if Offrs serves its purpose and meets the requirements and expectations of real estate agents.

Accurate and reliable insight empowers agents and brokers by allowing them to make informed decisions in a very competitive marketplace. Through this research, we aim to provide our readers with the critical information required to succeed in real estate.

How we came up with our Offrs.com review: 

• Pricing: 3.75 out of 5
  • Assessed the cost of plans relative to the value offered and compared to other platforms
• Lead generation features: 4.38 out of 5
  • Evaluated the platform’s core lead generation capabilities, focusing on predictive analytics and exclusivity
• Advanced lead generation features: 3.38 out of 5
  • Reviewed the availability and effectiveness of more sophisticated tools beyond basic lead generation
• Customer service: 2.5 out of 5
  • Considered the methods for contacting support and the consistency of the assistance provided
• Customer rating: 3.06 out of 5
  • Looked at how past clients rated the platform and its popularity 
• Expert score: 3.88 out of 5
  • Derived from expert analysis and hands-on experience with the platform’s overall performance

Read more about our methodology here.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I ensure the quality of leads generated from the platform?

What is the usual conversion rate of leads obtained from such platforms?

How will the lead generation tool or platform integrate with my existing CRM and marketing tools?

The Bottom Line: Is Offrs Worth Your Money?

Unparalleled analytics and exclusive leads, combined with a free marketing plan, make Offrs perfect for the agent looking for seller lead generation. Its ISA Team provides further value in pre-qualifying leads for agents who need the team to support their lead-generation efforts. However, limited customer service hours and a lack of advanced CRM features could be detractions, along with committing to a required 6-month contract with no free trial.

If you’re at a point in your career where you are ready for more seller leads and securing exclusive opportunities, the price through Offrs is a worthy investment. It may be short on advanced features and top-tier support, but no one can match its real estate lead generation capabilities to help any agent looking to get ahead in the market.

The post Offrs Review: Pricing, Features, Pros & Cons (2024) appeared first on The Close.

You need to embrace this technology and use it to help more clients (and help your pockets grow, too)! I will break down what predictive analytics in real estate are, how you can use them, their benefits, and which real estate analytics software you can use to boost your business. Here we go! 

What Is Predictive Analytics in Real Estate?

Predictive analysis is a technique that uses data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning to identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data. It involves analyzing current and past information to predict future events. 

In real estate, predictive analysis can help agents forecast market trends, identify potential buyers and sellers, set competitive prices, and make strategic business decisions. These real estate analytics companies pull together millions (if not billions) of data points from multiple sources to give you important insights. 

Common data sources include the following:

• Property
• Demographics
• Behavioral trends
• Event data (user-generated activity data from products, software, or websites)

Why Predictive Analytics Matters in Real Estate

If you’re a MARVEL fan, you may remember in Captain America: The Winter Soldier the scene where Jasper Sitwell gets kicked off the roof by Black Widow for information about Zola’s algorithm. Ok, we won’t be kicking anyone off any rooftops, but Zola’s algorithm is a great example of predictive analysis. It provided data on who to target, when to target them, and how to take them down.

The same concept is applied to PA in real estate. Imagine if you had a list of homeowners in your farm area who were identified via predictive analytics as highly likely to sell their homes in the next 12 to 18 months. Think of the time, energy, and money you could save by marketing specifically to those homeowners. You can make it work for you in your real estate business with a company that knows how to harness it.

Ok, let me give you some actual data to consider. One of our top picks, Offrs, provides 30 guaranteed leads in a chosen ZIP code every month, and those leads come with an astounding 72% prediction accuracy rate. Assuming that prediction rate, you’d have about 20 solid leads each month. The average listing commission is over $12,000. So, if you convert half of your leads, that’s $120,000. As Offrs says: It’s not magic; it’s math.

Benefits of Using Predictive Analytics for Real Estate 

Real estate predictive analytics is changing the game, giving agents and brokers powerful tools to understand market trends and customer behaviors. With tons of data and smart algorithms, this tech helps you make better decisions, market more effectively, and stay ahead of the competition. 

Using predictive analytics in real estate offers several key benefits:

• Accurate market predictions: Helps agents predict market trends, including which properties are likely to sell and when.
• Targeted marketing: Allows more accurate marketing efforts by identifying potential buyers and sellers, leading to better conversion rates.
• Improved pricing strategies: Assists in setting competitive sales prices based on data-driven insights rather than gut feelings.
• Enhanced customer insights: Provides a better understanding of customer preferences and behaviors, allowing you to personalize your services.
• Competitive advantage: Gives agents an edge over competitors who may not use predictive analytics.
• Increased sales: Ultimately leads to higher sales and revenue through more effective and targeted business strategies.

How Agents Can Use Predictive Analytics

Now that you know what PA is, why it’s important, and what the benefits are, it’s time to put predictive analysis to work for your business. While residential real estate analytics isn’t fully on par with the commercial side yet, we’re getting closer to seeing every agent, team, and broker using AI or data analytics tools in 2024.

Here are a few ways you can start to incorporate PA into your business practices: 

• Identify potential sellers
• Competitively price the properties
• Optimize lead generation
• Improve client relationships
• Predict future market trends

The Best Predictive Analytics Companies in 2024

Wondering which companies are at the forefront of predictive analytics in real estate? These companies are transforming how agents predict market trends and make informed decisions. If you’re considering integrating predictive analytics into your real estate strategy, here are some top recommendations for real estate data analytics companies that are reshaping how agents predict market trends, identify potential clients, and optimize their business strategies.

Take a look at some of the top players in the game.

1. Smartzip: Best for Sellers Leads

Pros It has easy-to-use CRM and dashboard. Smart Targeting product allows automated print marketing. It is easily applicable to an existing real estate farming strategy.	Starting Monthly Prices The company’s prices are based on the size of the geographic area you’re targeting. Prices start at $299 per month with a 12-month contract.
Cons Pricey—most Smartzip users spend at least $1,000 per month (or more). Leads are nonexclusive. It can take a long time to nurture and convert leads.

By combing through consumer data (from places like credit card companies), market data (from places like your MLS), and demographic data, Smartzip predicts which homeowners in your targeted region are most likely to sell. Realtors who sign up with Smartzip immediately get access to the Smartzip CRM, populated with “Smart Data” for their areas. 

Essentially, this is a list of all the property owners in your targeted area, ranked by how likely they are to sell their home in the next year and a half. Armed with this information, you can focus your outreach on only the most likely sellers, saving you time and money on marketing efforts and making your lead conversations more meaningful and fruitful.

Smartzip: Is It Right for You?

If you’re already investing heavily in real estate farming and seller lead nurturing, Smartzip is an excellent real estate predictive analytics tool for you. Since leads from Smartzip tend to take a little longer to nurture than traditional listing leads, you will need a solid keep-in-touch strategy. If you’ve got a good lead nurturing game in place, Smartzip is absolutely worth considering.

2. Offrs

Pros It is the same great Smart Data that sister company Smartzip is built on. Roof provides an entire inside sales and marketing team with no upfront costs. Unique ad tools help connect your analog and digital marketing.	Starting Monthly Prices It offers 30 guaranteed leads from one ZIP code for $299 monthly. This includes predictive sellers, an ad budget, a customized territory builder, and a lead capture page. If you want a larger target area, spring for the premium plan, which is five ZIP codes for $599 monthly. Offrs does not require a contract.
Cons Leads are nonexclusive. Leads take longer to convert than organic or referral leads. The Offrs Smart Data CRM isn’t as user-friendly as the Smartzip version.

While Offrs is owned by the same company as Smartzip, the actual product is very different. Both are built on the same Smart Data platform, but Offrs customers also have access to sophisticated and automated marketing and nurturing tools.

Plus, the Offrs Roof referral system is an added bonus. For a 25% referral fee, Offrs’ call center and email marketing team will initiate at least 30 touches in the first 90 days, starting immediately when a lead comes through. This makes the nurturing process even less of a lift, especially since about 67% of clients go with the first agent they speak with.

Offrs: Is It Right for You?

If you need automated marketing services, this is a platform you should absolutely consider. If you don’t need the more specialized lead types or automated marketing features, you’re probably better off going with Smartzip, with its upgraded CRM and user interface.

3. Catalyze AI

Pros It has high accuracy percentage. It offers exclusive, local leads. It has an easy-to-use, intuitive dashboard.	Starting Monthly Prices The two-tier pricing at Catalyze AI is relatively unique. The first tier is for properties valued over $1 million dollars, which is $450 per month. For $360 per month, you get leads on properties valued under $1 million. There are no contracts, so agents can subscribe month to month.
Cons Costs will add up if you subscribe every month over a year. It relies on excellent interpersonal and follow-up skills. Large radius may not work well for agents in urban areas.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of properties are inherited. Catalyze AI helps sort through all of the data points (over 400 million of them) to narrow these properties down to excellent leads. It is so excellent that it boasts that four out of 10 predicted leads sell within 12 months. Catalyze AI estimates this market represents $77 billion in property value each year.

I like that Catalyze AI offers leads within a 20-mile radius of your search area and that you can pay based on the value of the property: one monthly rate for properties valued above $1 million and one for below. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, these leads are exclusive, which makes them pretty darn valuable.

Catalyze AI: Is It Right for You?

Inherited property leads are fairly niche, and it takes someone with strong interpersonal skills to convert them, especially if the new property owner is recently bereft. It will also take patience and strong follow-up. That being said, this is a really strong market, and the leads are local, not outrageously expensive, highly probable to convert, and exclusive. Because it’s month-to-month, it’s definitely worth checking out Catalyze AI; it’s a company in the PA space that we’re excited to watch.

4. Top Producer

Pros It offers full end-to-end solution with top-notch lead gen, integrated marketing, and CRM. CRM helps prioritize PA leads and follow-up. It has excellent customer service.	Starting Monthly Prices Top Producer’s Pro + Framing package includes the CRM plus AI-powered farming and marketing starting at $399 per month. Pro + Leads includes the CRM plus social media leads starting at $429 per month. The baseline Top Producer product—called Pro—starts $129 per user, per month. The Top Producer Pro Teams package is $299 per user, per month. A Top Producer website is an additional $35 per user, per month.
Cons You can’t subscribe to just the PA solution. It lacks 24/7 customer support. It is not an option for agents who already have a CRM they like.

While Top Producer’s predictive analytics product, called Smart Targeting, isn’t far from what other PA companies are doing (in fact, its data is supplied by the same company as Offrs and Smartzip), it is unique to have the analytics as part of a larger lead generation and tracking ecosystem. There are some real advantages to having everything working together in the same place. If you’re using Top Producer, one of our favorite CRMs in the industry, to prioritize, track, nurture, and convert leads fed to your funnel by predictive analytics, you’re cooking with gas, as they say.

Top Producer’s biggest value is in its CRM, which allows a busy agent to rely on automatic follow-up with leads. It’s not cheap—in fact, it’s hard to tell exactly what Smart Targeting costs as it’s an add-on to the base price—but it is an exciting development in the industry. Synergy between all of your sales and marketing is a beautiful thing.

Grow your database with a steady stream of affordable, exclusive real estate leads from social media ads. Social Connect from Top Producer is designed to get you a high volume of leads and move them through your pipeline until they’re ready to buy and sell real estate. Connect with an average of 30 consumers interested in real estate in your local market for just $300 per month!

How Social Connect works:

• Digital advertising experts create and run social media ad campaigns on your behalf
• You get exclusive leads from your desired local area
• All leads are automatically nurtured via text and email on your behalf until they’re ready to connect, saving you time and effort

Top Producer: Is It Right for You?

If you already have a CRM that you love, Top Producer isn’t for you. You’re better off subscribing to Offrs or Smartzip and integrating it into your existing CRM. It’s only if you’re already using Top Producer or you want to make a CRM change that you should consider jumping in with two feet. Real magic can happen when all of your systems are not only talking to each other and working together, but also taking advantage of cutting-edge technology that can skyrocket your business.

Are you a lender or homeowner interested in hearing about other great predictive analytics tools that are easy on the wallet? Check out our review of Homebot to kick off your search.

Methodology: How I Chose the Best Predictive Analytics Companies

Our methodology at The Close ensures that our team of professionals, writers, and editors thoroughly analyzes each platform. We meticulously evaluate the features, usability, integration capabilities, performance, and affordability of the AI tools available for real estate. 

Even though our team has decades of combined real estate experience, navigating through the wild, complex, and sometimes confounding world of data analytics wasn’t easy. To make sure we were using objective measures, in addition to our educated opinions, we looked at these five key criteria to select our picks for the top companies:

• Affordability and value for money: Cost was an important consideration. We looked for tools that provided a good balance of features and return on investment.
• Feature set and functionality: We evaluated the range of features each tool offers and focused on how impactful these features are to real estate operations. 
• Usability and customer ratings: We looked for tools with intuitive interfaces, straightforward navigation, and comprehensive support resources. We want to ensure it can be easily integrated into an agent’s workflow. 
• Integration capabilities: Because so many tools are needed in the real estate industry, we want to ensure that an agent’s technology stack can communicate with other tools necessary for business. 
• Effectiveness and performance: We considered the effectiveness of each tool to make sure that it increased productivity and would achieve the desired outcomes that it promised. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)

What are the challenges of using predictive analysis in real estate?

What problem is being addressed by applying predictive analytics to real estate?

How do predictive analytics impact the real estate industry?

Bringing It All Together

Data analytics, and predictive analytics specifically, is an exciting, cutting-edge field that has the potential to completely shake up our industry. I believe that agents, teams, and brokers will see a serious ROI with the right data analytics tool. I hope this guide has helped narrow down the options and decide what might be the right company (or companies) for your business. 

Are there any predictive analytics companies serving the real estate world that we missed? Who should we include the next time around? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Predictive Analytics in Real Estate: Best Practices & Software for Agents appeared first on The Close.

What Is Real Estate Data Analytics?

Real estate data analytics is an umbrella term that describes using different types of data to make better business decisions. It includes collecting data, analyzing it, and applying it. Data can be gathered, analyzed, and even applied manually or using a real estate tech tool.

What Can Agents Use Real Estate Data Analytics for? 

Real estate professionals often use data and analytics even more than they think in their day-to-day work. The term “data analytics” might sound like complex, highly advanced technology—and sometimes it is. Other times, it actually describes tasks and processes that agents have used for decades.

A few examples of data analytics in real estate include the following: 

• Analyzing the housing market: Using data from national real estate companies makes it easy for agents and brokers to evaluate market trends, anticipate inventory challenges, and help clients set realistic expectations to get the best value from their sale or home purchase.
• Conducting property valuations: Listing agents can accurately price a home for sale by having data like current and past property values and sale prices of similar homes. 
• Leveraging predictive analytics: Predictive analytics companies use historical data combined with user behavior to predict things like future listings and market fluctuations.
• Creating a comparative market analysis (CMA): A CMA gathers details about recent sales and estimates a property’s worth based on the sales of similar properties in the area.
• Keeping track of social media conversations: Social media listening is a new strategy used by real estate data analysts to gather information about how a topic is discussed. For example, Sprout Social uses an artificial intelligence (AI) listening tool to determine how many people are talking about a specific topic, how they’re discussing it, and the audience demographics.
• Evaluating marketing performance: Analytics are important for every area of online marketing, including social media, digital ads, and websites. These real estate analytics help you determine which areas of your marketing strategy are successful and which areas need more attention.

Benefits of Real Estate Data Analytics + Case Studies

The biggest benefit of gathering data in real estate isn’t just the data—it’s the ability to leverage the information to make intelligent, educated decisions for your business. Website visits, social interactions, email activity, and real estate portals generate great data, but you must know how to translate that data into strategic business decisions. A few of the main benefits of using data in real estate include the following:

• More insight: Having real-time data helps develop a deeper understanding of the real estate market or the behaviors of your target audience.
• Better decisions: Data helps you make decisions based on facts and data instead of guessing or following other trends.
• More effective marketing: By knowing how your audience is behaving, you can craft marketing funnels that appeal to them more directly and personally.
• Continuous improvement: Real estate data analytics shows you exactly what is working and what is not working so that you can make the most strategic and effective adjustments.

Case Study One

Many people publish a real estate website and then barely look at the site’s performance. However, learning to understand the analytics will help you see things like:

• How people are finding your website
• How many, or few, pages they are visiting
• Which website pages are getting the most visits

With this valuable information, you can change your website to guide viewers to the right places and ultimately generate more leads. These updates could include refreshing search engine-optimized keywords to target the right audience, adding alternative text to images to make your site more accessible, and ensuring your site is optimized for mobile. 

Case Study Two

By incorporating additional tools, you can even further leverage the power of real estate data analysis to generate and nurture new leads. An example of this is Homebot, a predictive analytics tool that allows website visitors to see the estimated value of their home automatically. It also provides additional tools for different types of leads or website visitors, like home buyers and homeowners looking to maximize the value of their homes.

The platform gathers data from the user’s behavior and generates customized landing pages for each type of visitor. Learn more about Homebot in our review.

Case Study Three

It’s no secret that social media can be a massively powerful strategy to grow a real estate business. While Instagram, Facebook, and other real estate social networks will provide basic analytics for users with business accounts, you can make a huge impact by leveraging data from social media.

For example, one real estate brokerage started focusing on its social media data and saw a 100% increase in monthly website visitors and a 10% increase in clicks from its campaigns. Instead of guessing what your audience wants to see and manually posting content, use social media marketing tools to gain more insight and automatically improve your techniques.

Social media analytics can help you determine:

• The best times to post for your specific audience
• Which content gets the highest engagement rates
• The most relevant hashtags and topics to reach your audience
• How your competitors are using social media and how to improve on it

Top Tools for Real Estate Data Analytics

There are many different areas of real estate analytics, from marketing to economics and demographics. As you learn how to successfully use data in real estate, consider investing in some of the best tools for gathering, organizing, interpreting, and applying valuable insights.

A few of the best real estate data analytics tools include the following:

• Zillow: Zillow’s website has a section dedicated to providing users with current housing market data, such as current home values and predicted home values in any given region. For Zillow Premier Agents, it also tracks the performance of every lead.
• Offrs: This predictive analytics platform identifies properties and homeowners most likely to sell in the coming year.
• Homebot: This predictive analytics tool helps nurture leads with customized information and marketing.
• RealPage: This property management software provides data and tools for leasing, marketing, and managing tenants, as well as finances.

Zillow publishes valuable data for the real estate industry and provides many tools to help agents build their businesses. Realtors who become Zillow Premier Agents get to connect with buyer leads directly from the platform, and since Zillow is the most popular real estate website, this is an ideal way to generate leads. Learn more about Zillow Premier Agent in our review.

FAQs

How is data science used in real estate?

What is the best source for real estate data?

What should I look for in a real estate data tool?

Bringing It All Together

Data is a huge part of real estate; the most successful agents learn how to leverage it to build a strong business. Real estate data analysis can help you serve your clients better, reach new leads, understand the real estate market, customize and automate your marketing strategy, and close more sales—there are almost no limits! How will you use data to move your business forward?

The post The Ultimate Guide to Real Estate Data Analytics appeared first on The Close.

Homebot isn’t just a win for homeowners, though. It’s a way for agents to nurture their sphere as well as educate them—two birds with one stone. In the age of disinformation, people want to hear from a trusted source. Why can’t that be you? So let’s dive into the top features of Homebot, its pricing, and my full breakdown.

Pros

• Set-and-forget it with automated monthly emails
• Cost-effective
• No contract requirement
• Lender referral opportunities
• Hyperlocal data from Altos Research

Cons

• Email-centric (may not be for all clients)
• Setup fee
• Advanced features only available with lender plans
• Not a replacement for expert advice
• Market competition via Zillow, Remine, etc.

The Close Score

4.7

Pricing:

4.8

Features:

4.5

User Interface:

4.5

Support:

4.8

out
of

5

My Verdict 

As both a real estate agent and coach, I’ve seen my fair share of software and even some cool AI tools designed to help agents stay connected with clients. Homebot stands out for me. It’s not just another tool—it’s a way to offer valuable insights that your clients will actually appreciate. People want to know what the value of their home is—Homebot keeps them off Zillow and engaged with you on a monthly basis. And at $25 a month, it feels like a no-brainer. 

I recommend Homebot to every one of my coaching clients because of the low cost and the added value you’ll bring to your sphere. While I still coach agents to use the FORD method—asking their sphere about their family, occupation, recreation, and dreams—I do think Homebot can help agents who worry about just making small talk a few times per year. While it’s still important to stay up to date with your clients’ lives, Homebot provides you (and your clients) with actionable advice. If you’re looking to up your client engagement game without emptying your wallet, I’d recommend checking out Homebot.

What Is Homebot? 

Homebot is a lead nurturing tool that helps real estate agents educate clients on what their home is worth via a monthly automated email. What’s great about Homebot is that it offers personalized insights, not just a number. This automated valuation model (AVM) is based on market data from more than 20,000 neighborhoods, updated weekly. 

You can also partner with a lender to unlock other cool features like a Chrome extension plugin and browsing on Zillow with a Homebot insights sidebar. You might not be able to keep leads off Zillow, but you can still provide better insights while they browse it. 

Homebot Pricing 

For Real Estate Agents

Homebot offers a straightforward and budget-friendly pricing model for agents. There’s even a way to get a freemium version through your lender partner. The Pro Plan for agents starts at $25 per month with a one-time setup fee of $50. Here’s what you get:

• Personalized home value insights delivered to 500 clients every month
• Customized insights for homeowners 
• Basic integrations  

Note: If you want to add more clients, you can do so in blocks of 500 for an additional $10 per month. 

For Lenders

In most transactions, the lender is essential—and most agents have a few preferred mortgage professionals in their pocket. When your lender partners with you on Homebot, that’s where the magic happens. You’ll unlock these premium features: 

• Homebot Home Search Chrome browser extension
• Video manager and video email 
• Personalized URLs for your listings
• Additional insights for clients when they browse Zillow 

With these extra bells and whistles, pricing is a bit more involved for lenders. There’s a $200 one-time setup fee and a base subscription of $150 per month. The reason for the big jump in pricing when compared to the agent offerings is that the lender pricing unlocks other features specific to mortgage professionals, such as the ability to offer a freemium version to agent partners. 

Key Features 

Automated Home Value Insights

One of the core features of Homebot is its ability to provide automated and personalized home value insights. They use one of the largest real estate databases, Altos Research, to give homeowners an accurate picture of what their home is worth. 

If your clients don’t agree, they have the option to change it (after which you’ll receive a notification). Don’t worry—your clients are only given a realistic adjustment range based on Homebot’s data models and market trends. This number will be saved for your client, but won’t impact Homebot’s data reporting. 

The insights also extend into the “Homebot Home Search Experience.” This is a really cool feature where Homebot integrates directly with Zillow in the user’s browser, so your clients will get added Homebot insights while they browse Zillow. Let’s dive into that feature further. 

Homebot Home Search Experience

The question on your mind at this point is most likely, “Are Homebot’s values more accurate than Zestimates?” The answer is unequivocally yes. I’ve dug into the Zestimate data and Zillow’s nationwide margin of error is 7.7% for homes that are off market. Altos Research, which provides data to Homebot, has roughly 20,000 hyperlocal markets and pulls data on “over 100 million properties every week.” 

Zillow’s model is limited to the data that Zillow has access to—which relies on partnerships with MLSs nationwide. But agents know how fickle those partnerships can be. On the other hand, Altos Research positions itself as “the only company to analyze the entire active market in real time, tracking every property listed for sale or rent in the U.S.”

Looking at the snip above, this is what homeowners will see when they use the Homebot home search function. It’s a much cleaner interface that keeps your clients engaged with you, not the featured Zillow Premier Agent. 

Refinancing Scenarios

With rates at recent highs, a lot of homeowners don’t have any idea of what they could afford if they chose to refinance or buy. Homebot gives your prospects several possible refinancing scenarios based on current mortgage rates. You can help your clients better understand the value of their largest financial asset, especially in uncertain times. 

Personalized Landing Pages (PURLs)

Personalized URLs, or PURLs, are a way Homebot can help you grow your client base. These landing pages capture new leads and put them directly into your Homebot database. When a new visitor lands on your PURL, they’re prompted to enter their home address to receive an instant home valuation (powered by Homebot). 

You can use this in a lot of different ways, like with social media advertising or with an open house on a new listing. We’ve seen the power of landing pages for real estate agents, and the fact that Homebot designs this for you is a boon for your productivity.

These pages have a great user interface and an actual reason for visitors to input their info—they’ll get the value of their home without waiting for a real estate agent to pester them. I also like the fact that you have an easy intro for your follow-up. Just ask your new client about what they thought of their home’s predicted value.

Client Nurturing With Video Manager

Another great feature I love is Homebot’s video manager*. With this, you can upload videos around common client pain points and send them to your sphere every month as an engagement tool. You can import these from YouTube, BombBomb, or other popular video platforms as well. This makes it super easy to email your videos to keep your clients engaged beyond the automated home value email. 

Make a few videos that explain refinancing, provide personalized video market updates, or just simply check in with your sphere to give them that personal touch. When you get a new client in your Homebot database, your “Homeowner Intro” can be sent at the touch of a button. 

*Video Manager is only available to agents cosponsored by a lender or lenders on the Pro plan. Otherwise, you can choose from a few premade videos to engage your clients. 

Integrations

Within the Homebot platform, you can view your open rate, click-through rate and see which of your prospects have engaged with their Homebot email. It’s pretty straightforward so I don’t want you to worry about the fact that Homebot doesn’t have a ton of integrations. 

Homebot does partner with Total Expert CRM, BombBomb, and Mortgage Coach. But more importantly, the company has an open API. So if you’re a tech-savvy agent, you can get in touch with their team to put together a custom integration. This also means you can use a tool like Zapier to connect Homebot to a CRM you’re using with minimal headaches. 

When you partner with a lender, those plans offer a Chrome extension and a Zillow plugin. After all, we know it’s almost impossible to keep your clients off of Zillow. This feature could be the extra nudge you need to nurture a great conversation with your client about a home they saw on Zillow. Based on the buyer’s profile, Homebot provides a “buy score” for a home, letting them know if this is a smart, fair, or a weak purchase price, as well as estimated monthly costs and savings compared to renting.

Homebot Alternatives 

Here’s the thing—in the world of real estate tools, Homebot stands alone. With artificial intelligence (AI) valuations, it’s more important than ever to keep that client relationship alive. Homebot is an innovative tool that has more accurate valuations than a Zestimate and provides real value for your clients. I haven’t been able to find a tool that does what Homebot does, especially for the price. However, if some of these features sound appealing, here are a few other companies you might like to consider.

Wise Agent

Agent Legend

Kiavi

The Bottom Line: Is Homebot Worth the Money?  

Homebot is an amazing addition to any agent’s existing toolkit, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. This isn’t just “touching base” to see how things are going—you’ll be offering personalized financial insights to your clients, which go much further than calling them to ask them the FORD questions for the third time this year. 

Homebot’s focus is on client nurturing—something I preach a lot in my coaching. What I like about the company’s approach to this vital part of the client relationship is that Homebot is designed to complement your current system. If you’re aiming to give your client nurturing strategy a tech-forward edge without overwhelming yourself, Homebot is your go-to.

Methodology

In evaluating Homebot, I used my firsthand experience of the platform as both a real estate agent and a coach. I’ve been a fan of Homebot for years and I’ve recommended it to many of my coaching clients with great success.

Here at The Close, our goal is to offer actionable advice to help our readers succeed. Just to be clear: Homebot has not paid for this review, and my enthusiasm for Homebot has not influenced my evaluation. Our product review methodology emphasizes thoroughness and an unbiased take.

What’s Your Take? 

What do you feel about predictive analytics software and letting AI predict home value in real estate? Do you feel like this product could work for your business? 

We love to hear from our readers. Please share your experience with Homebot or other thoughts in the comment section below.

The post Homebot Review: Pricing, Pros & Cons for Real Estate Agents appeared first on The Close.

SmartZip uses predictive analytics to zero in on prospects and provide tools to strategically target them, all with an integrated, done-for-you marketing platform. But how does it all work? And could it make a difference in your farming game? In this SmartZip review, we’ll explore predictive analytics, SmartZip’s marketing tools, how much it costs, and ultimately whether it’s the right fit for you and your business.

The Close Scorecard

Pros

• Clean, clear data platform
• Accurate prediction rates
• Excellent CRM
• Integrated marketing tools

Cons

• Pricing not transparent
• Leads require long nurturing time

The Close Score

4.5

Pricing:

3.1

Lead Generation Data:

5.0

Pipeline Management:

4.0

Marketing Tools:

5.0

out
of

5

My Verdict on SmartZip

For agents who know how to nurture prospects long term, there’s no doubt that predictive analytics are going to play a crucial role in real estate marketing—and SmartZip is one of the best. I expect predictive analytics, and SmartZip in particular, to become a much more mainstream real estate lead generation tool in the next few years. SmartZip not only boasts highly accurate data, but also the tools to directly market to those very specific leads. And it’s all supported by a powerful, dynamic customer relationship manager (CRM). One thing is clear: Agents who bet on SmartZip technology, strategy, and results are likely to see big returns in the future.

What Is SmartZip?

SmartZip is an all-in-one listing and lead farming tool with a proprietary algorithm that aggregates data from more than 30 top data providers nationwide. This includes data points regarding:

• Properties
• Lead behavior online
• Consumer trends
• Demographics

On their own, each of these categories provides interesting insight into a prospect’s life. But combined and fed into the SmartZip algorithm, they paint a picture of the leads who are most likely to sell a house in the coming months. In fact, according to SmartZip, this data lends itself to a 72% prediction accuracy rate over 12 months.

SmartZip Pricing for 2023

What you ultimately end up paying for SmartZip every month depends on the median property value in your area and the market size you purchase. The official line we got was, “We have flexible pricing options starting at $299 increasing to $999 based on required lead volume to hit the agent’s growth plans.” 

The base entry cost gives you access to Smart Data (the results of the SmartZip algorithm for your market), integrated marketing solutions, and the SmartZip CRM. Another important element to keep in mind here is that SmartZip requires a 12-month contract to get started.  

Key Standout Features

SmartZip is more than just a data warehouse. It provides top-notch services tailor-made for the real estate industry. Check out the features that I think really set SmartZip apart from the predictive analytics competition. 

SmartZip CRM

When you sign up with SmartZip, you can immediately access the built-in CRM, which is populated with the company’s Smart Data for your farming areas. Unlike a traditional CRM, it is constantly updated with the contact profiles of those identified as “high likelihood sellers.” These profiles include:

• Property square footage, bedroom and bathroom count
• Tax records
• Date the home was last sold
• Taxable value changes
• Estimated equity
• Names, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and social media profiles of the homeowners

Can I Link SmartZip Data With an Existing CRM?

As you can see from the list above, when you get a SmartZip lead, you aren’t just getting the basic contact information you’d get from another lead source. Most CRMs can’t set up the high number of custom fields necessary to accommodate all this data. My suggestion is to use the SmartZip CRM for their leads. Once you make contact with a SmartZip lead, migrate the data over to your primary CRM through one of their integrations. Cumbersome, maybe, but worth it to capture all of that deep data.

Smart Targeting

As an automated marketing solution, Smart Targeting uses Smart Data to build marketing campaigns across multiple platforms to target your leads. These SmartZip-identified potential sellers will see marketing from you in the form of direct mail (postcards and letters), email marketing, and ads across social media and Google. You can review every piece of marketing before it goes out to ensure the messaging is in line with your brand and business model.

Reach 150

With Reach 150, SmartZip uses an automated process to reach out to past and current clients and solicit a review. These reviews are plugged into the Smart Targeting system to build additional ads. This clever system works especially well for newer agents. Even if you only have a couple of reviews, the Smart Targeting tool can use them to build ads.

Sphere

SmartZip can apply its predictive analytics algorithm to contacts within your personal sphere of influence. Just upload your database and SmartZip will identify which of the people you know are most likely to list their home for sale and include them in your Smart Targeting marketing efforts.

Resource Library

Finally, we wanted to recognize SmartZip’s extensive list of resources. Their blog and article series will help any novice prospector tackle a mountain of new leads. From interview templates for a potential lead to tips on how to use social media, they provide a real treasure trove of training.

SmartZip Alternatives 

Not feeling SmartZip but still interested in predictive analytics? Check out this list of our top nine predictive analytics companies that could really boost your business. Considering starting with our review of Offrs, SmartZip’s sister company. They share many of the same data prediction tools, but present their features and pricing differently and offer guaranteed, exclusive leads.

The Bottom Line: Is SmartZip Worth the Money?

So, now you know what SmartZip is all about, but the question remains: Is it right for you? If you have strong nurturing strategies, long-term goals, and a healthy budget, SmartZip is an excellent option. I especially appreciated the integrated marketing suite that saves time and ensures effective nurturing.

However, if you want quick wins and one-off leads, there are better options. Also, if you have a limited lead generation budget and lack a fully developed lead nurturing strategy, consider other options. 

Methodology: Why You Can Trust My Review

At The Close, we have many combined decades of experience and we live and breathe this technology. We have had the opportunity to play around with the SmartZip platform and compare it to other predictive analytics companies. 

Specifically, I analyzed the following when determining our score: 

• Price and value for money
• Transparency
• Quality of data
• Data source diversity
• CRM
• Additional features
• Prediction accuracy rates (if available)
• Customer service

We review products with you in mind. Will this be affordable and helpful? Is it easy to use? Will it impact your business positively? What are the drawbacks? Who will benefit from this product the most? Our reviews are transparent, honest, and conducted with integrity and experience. Click here to learn more about methodology at The Close.

FAQs

What is predictive analytics?

How does it work in real estate?

Bringing It All Together

SmartZip is a cutting-edge predictive analytics company with stunningly accurate data that is priced accordingly. Agents who know how to play this game, who know how to slowly nurture leads over time, will see real value in getting super-targeted leads with SmartZip’s (reported) 72% accuracy rate. It’s not for everyone, but those who can harness the power of this smart data will likely be miles ahead of everyone else.

The post Is SmartZip the Future of Real Estate Prospecting? appeared first on The Close.