You've likely seen the ads either on TV or online, where some generic company like HouseValues (or HomeGain, FavoriteAgent and the like) will offer you the world if you'll just fork over your name, email address and phone number. Some will offer free home evaluations, and others will offer to "shop" Realtors for you so you can find the Realtor who will give you the best "deal" through their fancy prime-time TV ads and paid online advertising on Google and Yahoo. What these companies are really doing is collecting your personal information to SELL to Realtors who have signed up for their services, often paying a huge chunk of their commissions as well as other fees for these "referrals". And quite often your information will be sold more than once... or even ten times... as these lead generating companies attempt to capitalize on that tasty morsel of personal information that you provided them. Fortunately, both consumers and Realtors are getting wise to this game, making it harder for these companies to thrive as they did in prior years. HouseValues has announced that it will be cutting over 100 jobs nationwide as well as closing one of its call centers completely after experiencing losses close to $300k for their last quarter as compared to income of over $2.5 million for the same quarter last year. When you're looking for a Realtor to help you buy or sell a home in the Santa Clarita area, don't fall for the fancy TV ads or come-ons that promise you the world. What you'll likely get in return is a bunch of newbie or struggling agents who are attempting to get someone else to hand them new clients on a silver platter. And you'll likely get a bunch of them contacting you by phone and email as your personal info is sold... and sold... and sold... to the next batch of hungry Realtors to come aboard their programs. HINT: If you are on a generic looking website that makes you first click on your state, then area, etc, then you're likely on one of these lead generation websites instead of dealing with a real person! If you're looking online to find Santa Clarita Realtors to interview, then take a look at their personal websites and blogs (like this one) to get an idea of who you're dealing with. The majority of buyers and sellers are online these days, and therefore your Realtor should be as well. And not just online, but REALLY online, with information and resources specific to the Santa Clarita area. Google the Realtor's name and see what comes up... If I Google myself like this: "linda slocum" realtor in order to eliminate others who share my name, Google tells me that I have 18,000 websites that know who I am. Google other Santa Clarita Realtors, and you'll be lucky to find a handful for most of them. So... do you want your home to be seen by someone with visibility on over 18,000 different websites, or someone with visibility on only 500 websites or less? | 
