RESPA & Co-Marketing with Real Estate Agents: Single Property Websites
What About RESPA & Single-Property Websites?
Written By: Karen Deis, an interview with Dr. Gary Lacefield, RiskMitigationGroup.net & Scott Hudspeth, Loan Officer with Amerifirst Mortgage. This is the shortened version of the interview. Be sure to listen to the entire 18-minute session and download the Realtor/Loan Officer Agreement Form. Everyone can read.
Listen to the 18-minute audio interview now.
Over the last 18 months, single property websites have become the new battle cry for getting our foot in the door with real estate agents.
In a nutshell, single property websites have been around for a while now—but it’s only been recently where loan officers have embraced the system, the technology, and have become “mentors” to their agents, showing them how
to:
Use it as a tool to get listings from sellers
Use it as a lead-generation tool
Tie technology together under one umbrella-- website opt-ins, text messaging, call capture - to generate leads
Use it to post listings on over 10 real estate centric websites, including Craig’s List
Use it to market listings on social networking sites
A single property website showcases only one home at a time…and posts the listing with both the loan officer and the real estate agent.
…So what we want to know is how the costs between the loan officer and the real estate agent should be split up so it meets RESPA, Section 8, Parts A & B guidelines, which say that you can’t give anything of value or even perceived value.
Scott: Since the e-property service is $249 per month, that allows 250 listings, so we’ve figured the cost to be $1 per listing. So, splitting the cost 50/50, it’s 50 cents per listing per agent.
Dr. Lacefield: What are they receiving for the 50 cents?
Scott: They get everything that I mentioned before, the individual website, text messaging, call capture, etc. What they don’t get are signs, sign riders, business cards, labels…that's an extra cost and the agents can buy those if they want.
Dr. Lacefield: So how are the costs split up on those extras?
Scott: The website keeps track of what they spend per listing to prove that they are actually doing some sort of marketing to pay for their portion of the 50 cents per listing.
Dr. Lacefield: That’s 100% perfect. That’s one of those things that people fear — the documentation, and the ability to keep track of what agents spend, helps you — not hurts you. It’s the lack of a paper trail that gets people into trouble.
Scott: We also have the agents sign an agreement that says at the end…”by signing this form, you have read and understand the single property website terms of service…and then go into the RESPA, Section 8, 3500.14.”
Dr. Lacefield: I suggest that you add, ”by participating in this program, there is not an expectation, either direct or implied, that this relationship will require a referral of settlement services.” I also recommend that you add that statement to your training websites and pretty much everything else that would make sense to do so.
Scott: We also offer a trial period for $1 for two weeks. If it works, fine. If not, cancel at any time. Do they have to pay for the “free trial” too?
Dr. Lacefield: Yes, because they are receiving something of value. The red flag to HUD is the word “Free” and you have a cost even during a trial period. You’ll need to charge them something. Avoid the words “free” or “no cost”.
Scott: Could we refund them if they cancel in that time period?
Dr. Lacefield: No, you still have a cost.
Dr. Lacefield: I feel that this program certainly looks like it benefits the agents and consumers — and if it benefits the consumers with being able to provide additional information when they want it, anything that benefits the consumer is a good thing.
