Real estate, the Web and the great divide

There is an incompatibility, a mismatch between the Web and the traditional real estate and mortgage business today. Simply put, Internet leads are junk. They convert in the low single digits, with just 1, 2 or 3 percent of the leads turning into transactions.

But the real estate sector is built for leads that convert in the double digits -- in the teens. In "first life," as one might call the real world, eight inbound calls to a real estate office on a Saturday morning might turn into one deal. In "second life" (the Web) it may take 30 Web leads to generate one home transaction. more...

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