Like it or not, Cyberhomes just really hasn’t caught on like some of its other contemporaries. Technically it’s a very competent site and one that I’ve always thought was definitely under-recognized. But even I’m guilty of forgetting it’s out there some days.
Part of the problem may be the disjointed approach it has taken to its product over the years. Cyberhomes has had more home page redesigns than any other site I know, but it may also just be that it has never really found a good niche to corner. Property valuations: Zillow’s got them licked. Likewise Trulia with search experience, Realtor.com with depth of listings. And FrontDoor’s got them beat editorially.
To date, I hate to say it, there never really was a good reason to go to Cyberhomes (see Inman News).
But they launched a new service last week that might just turn that around.
Called the Market Forecast, Cyberhomes now promises to help you understand where your local market is heading. The report uses Cyberhomes’ unique access to its parent Fidelity’s data on more than 40 million loans, and layers on top of that all of its property records and other data sources.
So for only $3.99 you can order a 12-month real estate market forecast and housing supply projection, one that includes "delinquency and foreclosure trends, a 12-month value projection and summary information about the subject property."
Brilliant.
I think this could just be the tipping point for a turnaround in Cyberhomes’ fortunes. Forget about the past and look to the future (literally). Especially if they can focus 100 percent of their marketing efforts toward branding the site as the destination to go to and get the answers to the two most burning questions today: "Should I sell," and "Should I buy?"
That’s their niche.
This could be a winner in my books. Best part is: There is a real revenue model behind this, too. Shocking, I know. But premium reports can be a real moneymaker.
Nevertheless, I suspect Cyberhomes has a very short window to execute on this. The other players can reproduce much of what they’ve done and will certainly do so if Cyberhomes starts selling lots of these reports.
So, come on Cyberhomes — there’s no time like the present to change the future.
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Future of Real Estate Marketing is a part of Inman News.
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