HomeGain Leads cost 25%. Google: $3 bucks. Wow.

Could there actually be an AGENT or BROKER without a Website somewhere in San Francisco or San Diego...?

According to Google, there has to be more than a few businesses out there without a website presumed hiding in San Diego or San Francisco.

Google is testing a new advertising program with a FLAT fee per lead. They are letting businesses in San Diego and San Francisco test drive a new Google Pay Per Lead advertising model that connects you to a potential customer right over the phone. Way cool. Of course, the program will work if you have a website or not. But Google's primary push is for the businesses in California that don't seem to have a website.

These businesses just want to put a dollar into a box, and they get a phone call from a potential customer. Nice idea. Now let's spin this to a GENUINE NEED for us REALTORS.

Google is innovating or reinventing themselves every few months it seems and now they're expanding on their highly profitable AdWords program.

For many of you that don't know a lot about Google AdWords; it's Google's Pay Per Click program and it's just now turned (version) 3. It's the third major upgrade since their Pay Per Click AdWords program started way back in 1999.

If you're a REALTOR or broker in the SFO bay area or in San Diego, here is how can get into this cool new program to help you land a lot more leads providing that you don't care about reading online reports about clicks or conversions. You just need leads. Fine. Put a few dollars into the box and you get phone calls. It's that simple.

It has been often said by many a seasoned REALTOR... GET me a customer on the phone. And I can sell them a house.

Well Google has heard you and they're delivering on this idea now. At least for two California markets, anyway to test it.

Here is how it works: You set up your AdWords account just as you would for any real estate centric term to the bay area, for example;

san francisco homes for sale or san francisco real estate or san francisco foreclosures

After you CREATED your AdWords ads or your banner ads, you get to make one more choice. You LINK your Pay Per Click AD to a voice phone number. (Google Voice). So people who click on your ads, will be connected to your phone. You get the Google whisper voice letting you know that your LEAD has come from your Google ad to your Google Voice number.

So what's a LEAD worth right now if Homegain calls you? 25% of your commission. Ouch. And you thought taking the Broker exam was painful.

You pay $3 for the same lead and you get connected to a buyer thanks to Google.

The DEATH of the Yellow Pages

Does anybody even use the Yellow Pages anymore? I don't. I was upset to see the yellow book tossed in my driveway packaged in a plastic wrapper a few months ago. So I called the Yellow Book people and the Other Book people and asked them to REMOVE me from all distribution.

The woman on the other end of the phone at the Yellow Pages was getting her feathers ruffled, "How are you going to find a local plumber," she scoffed.

"Google," I replied. We need stuff, we Google everything. I'm sorry lady, but your Yellow Pages are obsolete. Trust me, when people in their seventies and eighties die, you're really out of a job. People in this age group are the only ones keeping the Yellow Pages on life support."

She started to get pretty miffed at this point.

I asked her, "Do you have an 8-Track player in your car?" She immediately replied, "Of course not."

I said, "Well, you're the 8-track player for business listings, Google is the MP3 player and everybody wants the MP3 player."

She hung up on me. Well, that was no surprise.

Goodbye HomeGain, Farwell Reply!, So Long HouseValues. Hello Google

I used to work for a luxury broker here in Santa Fe. Every once in a while, one of the Lead Sharks would call us with a qualified buyer with fabulous FICO scores. I know that HomeGain and others still call agents today and try to get them to AGREE to the lead for 25% - 30% of your hard earned commissions.

If Google's new AdWords and Google Voice program is successful in the two test markets, I can see the death of HomeGain, Reply!, LendingTree and even HouseValues in 2010.

What REALTOR in their right mind will want to pay 25% of your hard earned commissions when you can get the same lead for $3 bucks?

Trust me. That day is coming.

-- bart