Love 'em or Hate 'em, AVMs Generate Leads. Here's How You Can Get Your Own

Regardless of how you personally feel about AVMs (Automated Valuation Models), there is little doubt that an AVM can produce quality home seller leads to real estate companies. Building your own "What's-my-home-worth" tool can produce more quality leads for your business. Today we'll explore why people use AVMs and how you can build your own.

What is an AVM?

An AVM is Automated Valuation Model – or a tool that takes a bunch of data like recent homes sales and market trends – and creates an estimate of a property's value.

The most well-known AVM on the market today is the Zestimate. Virtually every national real estate portal uses an AVM, however. Simply type in "what is my home worth" into any search engine and you'll see how omnipresent this service has become.

What can an AVM do for my business?

Why do all the national portals have AVMs? Quite simply, it's to generate seller leads. Seller leads are valuable in real estate, which is why we spend so much time covering them. Seller leads are often more loyal than buyer leads to a specific agent, they often warrant greater commission and better referrals and ultimately give the agent more control over the sale.

When thinking through a digital strategy, include tools and tactics that attract sellers. If the only thing you have on your website is listings, then you only have content that appeals to buyers. An AVM is an easy way to provide valuable information to potential sellers while identifying likely sellers on the backend.

The Chief Product Officer for Move calls leads from their AVM "highly valuable prospects" and says that 30 percent of those leads will sell their home within a year.

In short, an AVM will generate more seller leads to your business.

Should I Build or Buy my AVM?

Build

If you have development resources, a website that attracts a fair amount of traffic and are looking to incorporate an AVM into a holistic online experience, you probably want to build your own. Building an AVM allows you to integrate seamlessly with the look and feel of your website.

The Onboard Developer Platform makes it easy to build your own AVM. We have AVM data, market trends, property information and even owner information for verification purposes. Our platform also has additional information that will make your AVM stand out.

• Comparable Sales - Comparable Sales are a very popular to show with an AVM. Oftentimes people considering selling their home want to know what similar homes in their area have recently sold. You can provide this information with the Sales Snapshot call.
• Confidence Score - The API also returns a confidence score and a range of prices with a low estimate and a high estimate. This enables you to have more options and to build with different interfaces.
• Historical Data – The platform has historical data as well, so you can see a history of the home's value and recent sales.

You can show this information on a map or on a list, and include the characteristics and information you feel your audience finds valuable. The Onboard Developer platform makes it easy for you to access this information with interactive docs that allow you to test out this scenario and get an idea of what you would get in return. You can sign up for a free 90-day trial to see if the platform works for your application.

Buy

For those who may not control their company website, don't get a lot of traffic, or don't have access to development resources, it might be easier to buy your AVM. myAVM is an easy way for you to get up and running quickly and starts at only $39 / month. It is a finished solution, so no development work is needed. You simply get your logo and contact information on a finished AVM that can be viewed online or printed.

Whether you choose to build or buy your AVM, know that an AVM is a great way to start a conversation with a potential home seller. If you are interested in generating more seller leads, an AVM might be a great solution for you.

To view the original article, visit the Onboard Informatics blog.