Like it or not, Cyberhomes just really hasn’t caught on like some of it 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 myself of forgetting it’s out there somedays.
Part of the problem may be the disjointed approach it has taken to its product over the years – CH has had more homepage 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.
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 over 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 turn around in Cyberhomes’ fortunes. Forget about the past and look to the future (literally). Especially if they can focus 100% of its marketing efforts towards branding the site as THE destination to go and get the answers to the two most burning questions today; should I sell or should I buy?
There’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 money maker.
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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