Thanks to a special request made by Max the HomeGain Gorilla, we are having our first-ever Halloween photo competition for our real estate agent members!

What to do: Simply email a photo of how you spent your Halloween — whether it’s dressing up yourself, your kids or dog in a costume, decorating your home or realty, tactfully placing a pumpkin on a client’s home for sale, or your own idea.

(See photo below… who is that chicken?)

What/how you win: We are giving away 4 prizes to 4 lucky agents (see prizes below). All entries will be judged by the HomeGain Blog Team, based on creativity, originality and/or relevance.

Do it by: All entries must be received by Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 10am PST. (Halloween falls on a Sunday — October 31st — so we are giving you a few extra days to submit your photos.)

Spooky Halloween Photo Sweepstakes Prizes

1st prize: $100 HomeGain credit*

2nd prize: $50 HomeGain credit*

3rd prize: $25 HomeGain credit*

PLUS, a special prize will be awarded to one agent who submits the most fun photo of Max in a costume (choice of a plush Max, a Max bobblehead or a Max mug).

Email your photo (One photo at a time and don’t forget to include your contact info.)

Rules: Continue reading this post

In September, HomeGain,one of  the first companies to provide free online instant home valuations, released the third quarter results of our nationwide survey of over 1,100 HomeGain current and former members and 2,600 homeowners. Our survey asked their opinions on home values and what they thought of President Obama’s performance as President. On this blog we published the 3rd quarter 2010 national results as well as the complete 3rd quarter 2010 regional results, including commentary from real estate agents and brokers.

Recently, we released the results of the  3rd quarter 2010 California home prices survey,  the 3rd quarter 2010 Texas home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 Florida home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 New York home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 New Jersey home values survey , the 3rd quarter 2010 Illinois home prices survey the 3rd quarter 2010 North Carolina home values survey the 3rd quarter 2010 Ohio home values survey,  the 3rd quarter 2o10 Nevada home values survey and the 3rd quarter 2010 Michigan home values survey.  In the coming days we will be releasing home values survey data from Virginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and other states.

Today we are releasing the Colorado home prices survey results.

Set forth below is the third quarter 2010 real estate professional and homeowner Colorado home prices survey data along with the 2nd quarter 2009 and 2010 real estate professional survey data along with the third quarter 2010 national home prices survey data.  Click on each question to see complete results:

1. Have home prices increased, decreased or stayed the same in the last year?
2. On average, what do homeowners believe that their home is worth?
3. How do buyers feel that homes for sale are priced?
4. What is the average difference in price between what sellers believe their home to be worth and the amount at which the home gets listed?
5. What is the average difference in price between what a home is listed at and what a home sells for?
6. In the next six months, will the values of homes in your market increase, decrease or stay the same?
7. What percentage of homes for sale are foreclosures in your area?
8. What is the average home price in your area?
9. What percentage of your clients are first-time buyers?
10. How do you think Barack Obama is performing in his role as President?

Continue reading this post

HomeGain just added a Home Search tab to its Facebook Fan Page.

Now fans can read the Wall tab for timely, interesting and relevant real estate articles and news, as well as visit the Home Search tab and start searching for homes for sale, get a home’s value, and find a Realtor®.

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Last month, HomeGain, one of the first companies to provide free online instant home valuations, released the third quarter results of our nationwide survey of over 1,100 HomeGain current and former members and 2,600 homeowners. Our survey asked their opinions on home values and what they thought of President Obama’s performance as President. On this blog we published the 3rd quarter 2010 national results as well as the complete 3rd quarter 2010 regional results, including commentary from real estate agents and brokers.

Recently, we released the results of the  3rd quarter 2010 California home prices survey,  the 3rd quarter 2010 Texas home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 Florida home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 New York home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 New Jersey home values survey , the 3rd quarter 2010 Illinois home prices survey the 3rd quarter 2010 North Carolina home values survey the 3rd quarter 2010 Ohio home values survey,  the 3rd quarter 2010 Nevada home values survey, the 3rd quarter 2010 Michigan home values survey and the 3rd quarter 2010 Colorado home prices survey.  In the coming days we will be releasing home values survey data from Virginia,  Georgia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and other states.

Today we are releasing the Maryland home prices survey results.

Set forth below is the third quarter 2010 real estate professional and homeowner Maryland home prices survey data along with the 2nd quarter 2009 and 2010 real estate professional survey data along with the third quarter 2010 national home prices survey data.  Click on each question to see complete results:

1. Have home prices increased, decreased or stayed the same in the last year?
2. On average, what do homeowners believe that their home is worth?
3. How do buyers feel that homes for sale are priced?
4. What is the average difference in price between what sellers believe their home to be worth and the amount at which the home gets listed?
5. What is the average difference in price between what a home is listed at and what a home sells for?
6. In the next six months, will the values of homes in your market increase, decrease or stay the same?
7. What percentage of homes for sale are foreclosures in your area?
8. What is the average home price in your area?
9. What percentage of your clients are first-time buyers?
10. How do you think Barack Obama is performing in his role as President?

Continue reading this post

Today HomeGain announced that it is inducting 18 AgentEvaluator® Find A Realtor® club members, bringing the total to 73 inducted agent members this year — and whom together have earned over $6.8 million in gross lifetime real estate commissions. Read the press release.

HomeGain last inducted 27 members into its clubs in July, and is now inducting an additional 18 members (see below for club agents’ names):

• 5 new HomeGain Platinum Club members (totaling 369 agent members who have earned $125k or more in gross real estate commissions from HomeGain leads)
• 7 new HomeGain Gold Club members (totaling 303 agent members who have earned $75k or more)
• 6 new HomeGain Silver Club members (totaling 260 agent members who have earned $50k or more)

“We are pleased to induct these new club members and highlight their remarkable level of achievement,” stated Louis Cammarosano, General Manager at HomeGain.

HomeGain has 26 agent members in its Diamond Club (who have earned more than $500k in gross commissions) and two members in its Million Dollar Club (who have earned more than $1,000,000 in gross commissions).

HomeGain AgentEvaluator Award Club members have earned over $100 million dollars worth of real estate commissions since 1999 when HomeGain was founded. Award Club membership has grown to include 960 HomeGain members.

Newly inducted agent club member comments:

Continue reading this post

Happy 3rd anniversary to the HomeGain Real Estate Blog!

The, HomeGain Blog began its course in 2007 with its first-ever post by real estate agent Jeffrey Bastress, titled, “MLS Compensation: The Ugly Truth Today“.

Today, the HomeGain Blog has thousands of readers who read posts from 36+ contributors (and the list is growing). It has published over 760 articles in 40 categories which has engaged 3,000+ comments (14,000+ if you count spam!) over the past 3 years.

Thanks to all of our fans for their support! We look forward to another many great years together.