HomeGain, the first website to provide free instant home prices celebrates its 10th Anniversary today!

On April 26, 1999 HomeGain first opened its doors in Emeryville, California.

Set forth below in its entirety is HomeGain’s first press release:

HomeGain Press Release

New Site Matches Home Sellers with Real Estate Agents While Saving Both Time and Money, Receives Endorsements From Industry’s Top Leaders

Emeryville, CA – HomeGain.com, the Internet’s first resource center created specifically for home sellers, launched today on the Web at http://www.homegain.com. It is the first among hundreds of real estate sites on the Internet to cater exclusively to the home seller market and has already been called a “revolutionary” new tool for real estate agents, brokers and home sellers alike.

The site allows home sellers – for the first time – to choose a qualified, professional real estate agent online by instantly comparing and contrasting qualifications and proposals from a number of local agents – anonymously – before choosing the right real estate agent for them. The site also includes the most extensive online real estate library available for home sellers, including thousands of articles, consumer guides and online tools.

“The home seller market has been entirely untapped online and we saw a tremendous opportunity to provide a superior product for both home sellers and real estate agents,” said Bradley Inman, creator and founder of HomeGain.com. “HomeGain.com will change the way homes are sold. It will dramatically cut down on the time and expense of selling a home, and will save real estate agents valuable time and energy, allowing them to get back to the business of selling homes.”

After extensive research and focus group feedback, HomeGain.com has identified home seller needs and provides the necessary tools and information to reduce the time and stress involved in selling a home.

HomeGain.com is also a cost-cutting tool for real estate professionals. According to focus group results, the average real estate broker spends between $1,000 and $4,000 per listing on acquisition costs alone. By directly connecting real estate agents with ready-to-list home sellers, HomeGain.com eliminates the time and expenses of hit-and-miss prospecting activities.

“Finding listings is an inefficient, costly and uncertain process for real estate agents,” said Terri Murphy, a top-selling agent for Coldwell Banker in Libertyville, Ill. “HomeGain.com provides real estate agents with technology to stay one step ahead of the market, helping them focus their time on selling homes to motivated home sellers. This useful resource will no doubt speed up the process and reduce the hassle and expense of selling a home for both consumers and agents.”

Matching Agents and Sellers

HomeGain.com implements the latest technology to provide an easy-to-use, comprehensive guide to selling a home and choosing a real estate agent. After completing a simple online form, the home seller creates an anonymous profile that indicates price expectations, readiness to sell, an anticipated timetable and house details. The anonymous seller profile is then submitted into HomeGain.com’s database and is available to all participating real estate agents. Agents who register with HomeGain.com before November 1, 1999 will be entered into the system free of charge. An affordable annual registration fee, to be announced, will be required for real estate agent participation after Nov. 1. Real estate agents then deliver proposals online to the home seller at HomeGain.com. Agent proposals are accessible only via the seller’s private “inbox” at HomeGain.com. Agents registered with HomeGain.com must provide a history of productivity and local experience, as well as a personal profile. HomeGain.com’s matching service identifies local agent proposals and qualifications that fulfill the expectations of the home seller.

The home seller is then able to compare, contrast and rank the individual qualifications and proposals of numerous local agents before selecting whom they want to hire. With HomeGain.com’s innovative technology, the home seller maintains control of the process and remains anonymous throughout to prevent the unauthorized distribution of personal information or offline solicitation.

“This is the quickest, most efficient way to find a real estate agent that I’ve ever seen,” said Mark Spitaleri, a homeowner in San Francisco, Calif. who previewed HomeGain.com. “It takes the guess work out of finding an agent and ensures that I’m completely happy and comfortable with the entire process and the final result.”

Helpful Tools and Features

HomeGain.com incorporates several features designed to provide home sellers with information and tools to more effectively sell their home, beyond facilitating the process of selecting a qualified, professional real estate agent. HomeGain.com’s customized “How much is your home worth?” service allows home sellers to evaluate the market value of their home while establishing a starting point from which to begin their price negotiations.

With free access to thousands of articles and consumer guides, HomeGain.com is the only online service to provide real estate information specifically for home sellers. HomeGain.com’s library also contains answers to frequently-asked questions and an extensive glossary of real estate terms. With “smart-selling” tips and suggestions provided throughout the process, as well as an extensive list of questions to ask when interviewing prospective agents, HomeGain.com is designed to help home sellers feel prepared and informed as they communicate with real estate agents.

Louis Cammarosano

homegain.com