As an agent in a non-urban market and not a member of a gigantic nationwide brokerage (and always looking for good leads), I signed up, signed their contract to give them 25% of any commission, and then discovered the back story.
They sent me an Excel spreadsheet where I was to enter every detail of every transaction I'd ever had, including names, email addresses and phone numbers of every client for every transaction. If you've been an agent for a very long time, and especially if you've changed markets (I've gone from San Diego to the High Desert) or brokerages (I've been through several!), it's hard to remember them all, and often the records are with your previous brokers.
Then, apparently, they take the list and vet your completed transactions by contacting the clients you listed. Ridiculous. If they vetted through the MLS, it would be more accurate, but they don't. Also, I don't want them calling all my past clients because it's invasive to them.
Unless the agent completes every cell of every line for every sale they've made in their lives, no leads will be delivered. So, as a client user, you're not actually getting the benefit of being matched with every possible agent in your market, but with only the ones who have employees with enough time on their hands to fill out the ridiculous volume of data they demand. And, if the agent has not done millions and millions in sales, they're not considered "successful" and therefore not up to snuff for this website.
So, an ethical, educated, and experienced agent who dedicates themselves to the personal needs of each and every client they serve is passed over in this service, and the client-seeking personal service never has the chance to engage with you. I was extremely disappointed, considering the big hype they tout, and am offended by the entire premise of their platform.
I highly recommend that agents think twice before turning over all the personal information about their entire client base to this system, in expectation of getting those juicy leads they promise and don't deliver.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Company Response from HomeLight, Inc.
Apr 10, 2017
Hi CJ,
This is the HomeLight Support Team! We're incredibly sorry to hear that you've had anything less than a stellar experience while using our service. We understand your concerns regarding our transaction upload system and have made strides to streamline this process!
Recently, we have revamped our transaction uploading system so that it is easier to use, and requires much less information in order to successfully upload a transaction! Along with a handful of other data points, we no longer require an agent to provide their client's information to verify the transaction.
HomeLight's data includes over 20 million real estate transactions in the US going back to 2009. This data comes from over 100 different sources, including several MLS's. We also perform semi-regular data updates to make sure our partnered agents have updated and relevant information within our agent portal.
So while we encourage agents to upload their sales history, we do have many other sources so that agents can receive leads without having uploaded their sales history. However, we do recommend that agents upload their transaction history as this can only add to the accuracy of our data and their potential to match with a client.
I hope this clears up any concerns you may have had while using our service. If you have any further questions, please fill free to reach out to one of our support specialists at mary@Homelight.com.
Best,
HomeLight Support
