Why do buyers sign up on the Realty Trac web site to see foreclosures when they can see more local foreclosure listings in any local home search found on all most all real estate company web sites and on real estate agent web sites and even on this blog? Realty Trac has a 7 day free trial and after it is over there is a monthly charge to use the service.
My home search has more local foreclosures on it and the information is more up to date and it is free. If it would help I could charge for it and call it secret foreclosure bargains and maybe even advertise it on late night TV. There was a time when there were few foreclosures and they were hard to find. Today foreclosures are so common that in some price ranges I have to search to find a home that isn’t bank owned. Times have changed.
It IS puzzling. I suspect these same people are the ones who sign up for their “free” credit report (followed by the monthly fee for “watching your credit”) — even though there is a federally-mandated Web site which will get your credit reports for free, no strings attached. Convenience? Their friends signed up? They figure real estate agencies won’t try too hard to sell an REO? Too hard to figure out each different real estate agency Web site?
Hard to say.
Seriously? I think education is the answer. 🙂
Dunno … financial literacy is not a strong point for many people and they seem to show little inclination to change that. 🙁