There are so many ways people can get information these days without having to fill out any kind of information sheet. Even with my own internet searches. If I have to put my name down someplace, I will simply go to another site that does not require me to do so.
I have always been of the mind to be geenerous with my knowledge. If people like the way I do business, and that I respect them and their needs, they will contact me of their own accord. I think you will get more leads by giving people what they need, than by acting like a gatekeeper.

I as an avid home searcher personally hate and refuse to use websites where you need to put in any personal information at all in. No Guestbook please Real estate websites are a dime a dozen. If you actually get someone on your site you want to keep them there by ease of use. Kathy

I agree with Eric's response. Our job as REALTORS is to provide knowledge. Customers are smart and savvy today. The more information you provide the more useful you have become in the potential client's eyes.

I believe you will get many different responses as to whether the guest book on your website will be effective for you.

Best of luck to you,
Sandy Shores

I wrestled with the same question on my new website. For the first 3 months I allowed unrestricted access to MLS. I had three prospects sign up. Two months ago I required registration on the 4th visit. I am now averageing 1 quality prospect sign up a day.

I think you have to decide whether you're providing a public service or trying to acquire leads.

If you're providing a public service, why not cut out the IDX fee and give them a link to another portal?

It's not a crime or a sin to use your website to generate leads and business, but it's important to identify your goals and set up a plan to achieve them.

I would let them use the MLS without having to sign a guestbook but if they wanted full access like all the pics and full address they would have to login. This has worked for me. It is a service that you're paying for, it should work for you.

http://www.dawnsellssandiego.com/

Hi there,

As always, it really depends on your competition. If there are very few agents in your county offering MLS access through their websites then you are offering something of value and asking for visitor’s information is something that most folks would give you in exchange of the value you are giving them. However if almost every agents in your area offers IDX or other type of MLS access, then it might not be a good business decision to place a lead capture at this level.
In general, to place a successful lead capture, it has to be in exchange for offering something valuable (timely, insightful and local).
Also the best leads are the ones calling you just because they have been browsing your website and found it different and useful. Do you still have on your website the original template content? What kind of timely, insightful and local information do you provide? How frequently do you change your content?

I hope it helps
Cathy C.

I used to have a guest book on my website as well and found that these were people just surfing the net. Most of them didn't even give real names or email addresses. I discovered that if a buyer is serious he will get in touch with me. Allowing access to my listings is more important than trying to capture them at the beginning of their search for homes. I agree some individuals may not want to fill this information out so you end up loosing them. Hope this helps.

I believe that your web site is the first place many potential buyers will know you are available to help them buy or sell a home. My belief is that a major part of my job is to give information. I like to do it in a way that makes them like the information, how I present it to them and make them desire to get more information.


Personally I thought about how I would react if I was required to give information to a stranger that I was attempting to get information from and my reaction would be to go to another site with available information.

Our mls in Lake Arrowhead is a closed board. We have just begun to be able to provide IDX links. Sadly they do not work with my website without professional intervention. I have located someone to set this up for me.

The biggest challange is to get people to your site. I am sure you are doing lots of ways of marketing to do that. Why have them turn away when they are required to give you their life story in blanks to fill out.
Instead why not show your ability to provide information and your contact information.

In summmary I would not ask others to do what I would not do. Anyone can go on to realtor.com and get the mls. Maybe in not the form they want but it is all there.

Make they know you understand their needs and can fill them. With a smile.

I personally think that if your website is good enough, you give people good information, and you have your info clearly visible you should have no problem getting leads. I think asking people for personal information draws people away. They could easily get the same info somewhere else without giving away any info. If you do decide to go with a guestbook, you might want to just ask for an e-mail address.

I think that if you have developed real leads from the process then continue doing it and dont change a thing. You obviously have a user friendly manner to request the data.

I have found serious buyers fill in my information request even if it is only to get up todate listings.

JD “Dan” Weisenburger, GRI
Broker-Associate REALTOR®
Vanguard Realty, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

I would have to agree fully with Eric on this one. I also treat Buyers and Sellers who visit my public open houses that way and don't require signing in so they can view the home I am holding open. I think we all are tired of giving personal infomation away like name and email. I know I read all the privacy notices before I agree to give my email to ANY site. Do you have a privacy policy on your sign in page, maybe that would relieve some concerns and up your sign-ins if it feels non-threatening to them. But, if visitors to your website don't fill out the guest book, they don't WANT to be contacted, and wouldn't be a lead for you anyway. Good Luck, Lise

I've had both, guestbook and no guestbook. I haven't noticed a difference either way. The names and #'s I captured strictly from my website did not spin to a closed deal. The contacts that did close deals came from another marketing tool I used, ended up on my site, entered their information, which I already had.

More or less, it was a motiviational tool for me to be able to visually see how often my website was used. Now I can only view the # of vistors and I still get just as siked:) So, me personally, no guestbook.

Hope all this feedback helps.

You have five "leads" - have any resulted in a closing?

People can look up a lot of information on my web site without signing up but for details they have to log in with an email address .

If you are lucky enough to capture leads go for it. In some cases people just don't want to go through all of that sign up just to get hassled and even though you may not intend to do so, they don't know that. Actually I think if you are getting some real good leads, even a few, that's better then nothing at all. Keep up the good work.

GREAT QUESTION:

I HATTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE guestbooks on any website for fear I will be spam & etc. therefore I don't have it on mine.

Matter of opinion however I believe make person feel free return for any search.

National Featured Realtor and Consultant, Texas Mortgage Loan Officer, Credit Repair Lecturer
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Lynn911

http://www.lynn911.com

I like to let them see a little bit of information and then ask them to log in.

Many valid statements to take in. However, there are many successful models where sign-up has not proven to be a major impediment. Let's consider the Linkedin model. Most of you particiapte. Citizens who 'google' and find your 'linkedin' page must register to get your contact data. Why is this a successful model?
If the 'lightbulb' came on, congratulations! Use opt-in strategicly.

I agree with David Lovelace. If you place obsticles on your site, consumers will skip your site and go to another site. The MLS is free and consumers shouldn't have to register to get something that is free.
No guestbook.

I've tried my site with and without mandatory registration to search using my IDX provider. I've settle for a happy medium. I allow a few (three or four, I think) free searches and then after that there is just minimal information on the listings available and registration is required to see the full listing details. It seems to be working. As others have said, an up front registration requirement is a major turn off, when the info is available all over the internet. And if you have no lead capture capability you'll have no leads.

I would say that a guestbook would have been a great way to capture consumer info a few years ago. However, the driving motivation for consumers to go on sites now is to search for homes. Very few sites require registration. Particularly, with the growth of mobile applications that anyone can search via a smart phone for property detail through GPS. I quickly bomb out of sites that require registration. The younger generation is probably not used to registering at all. I would focus more on providing compelling information on your site, make it value to a consumer and giving them a reason to return. Then, develop the relationship and potential opportunity to work with them. As sobering as it is, times have changed and all of us have access to any and all info we need. We need to make the adjustment in thinking that they need us for this type of data, but they do need our hyper local knowledge and nuances of your area.

My guestbook experience was mixed. About 70% left pleasant, appreciative comments, others left self promoting comments, and a few left undesireable comments. You must monitor it closely. Hope this helps.

My guestbook experience was mixed. About 70% left pleasant, appreciative comments, others left self promoting comments, and a few left undesireable comments. You must monitor it closely. Hope this helps.

I TOTALLY disagree with those agents. I feel very strongly about having a registration page before they can search. We have had this discussion several times in my office and my thoughts are you need to have one! I ask for a name,e-mail, and phone number before they can view the homes. Lets say 100 people view homes, how many do you think are really going to call you? Now lets say 100 come to your site but only 20 decide to register, now you have 20 leads that you can e-mail and call! I would rather have 20 leads then 100 people I can't talk to!! I have closed a LOT of business of the internet and can tell you the registration page does work! My experience with the internet is that most people start searching the web 3 to 6 months before they are ready to buy. If you can contact them early in their searching and establish a relationship with them in the begininng your close ratio will be much higher! I call it building my pipeline. I talked to 2 buyers this week that did register but are not buying till end of summer. I answered all their questions and will keep up with them until it is time for them to buy. By the time they buy I will have already talked to them several times and built that bond and they will want to use me! Without that registartion page I would have never been able to build that relationship! Thats my thoughts....

Yucaipa

cc: Sandy and Eric,

Most of the answers here focus on marketing issues. Yes, as a real estate person, we should think about business as our main part but especially in CA, we should not forget legal issue. Every wroten document whatever hardcopy or e-file, has its own legal function. If the guestbook is designed as a buyer/seller questionary, then it may protect you in the further dispute or litigation.

Andy

I am back. I used to have an open policy to allow everyone enter my website. Since I am using the guestbook in a specific area/town I am getting more and better qualified leads, people that appear more serious to make business. Like Sandy states below... track results and do what is better for you.

Here's a blog post I wrote over a year and a half ago about requiring registration for an MLS search.

Short answer: I don't do it, and get plenty of qualified leads.

http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/mls-registration-require…

This is a very good idea when you want to know who is visiting you. It gives you the opportunity to develop some additional contacts as they come to you closer by giving you information. It is difficult otherwise, when you have no idea who is coming into you web site. After all you want to make business and the best way to do it is by knowing who wants to connect with you or not. It will be the visitors choice to visit or not.

I think that in working with a website you have to experiment with different options. Track the results over a period of time and then determine what is giving you the best results. I think it varies for different people.

Good luck!
Sandy Shores

Thanks for your answers. It is a tough call. I agree with you Eric that there is a large amount of information that doesn't require a guestbook, but I realized this morning that the MLS service doesn't feed that lead info to me. So that would make it pointless for me to remove it since I don't have any other point of capture.

Hi Yucaipa,

I think it is a good idea. if someone is uneasy about filling out a form when searching for real estate they have many othe options to look for. If on the other hand they fill it out then as you said they become a valid lead.