I’ve been researching how to do direct mailing. Based on readings and podcasts, listsource is the most popular place to generate and purchase lists. I don’t understand why agentpro247 isn’t more popular. It’s 6 cents a name/address, much cheaper if you have a monthly subscription. You can really get specific on your exact demographic too. I’m guessing it’s either People don’t know (unlikely) Listsource is more user friendly Agentpro247 isn’t accurate. Any insight?

Originally posted by @Pat Jackson :
I’ve been researching how to do direct mailing. Based on readings and podcasts, listsource is the most popular place to generate and purchase lists.

I don’t understand why agentpro247 isn’t more popular. It’s 6 cents a name/address, much cheaper if you have a monthly subscription. You can really get specific on your exact demographic too.

I’m guessing it’s either

People don’t know (unlikely) Listsource is more user friendly Agentpro247 isn’t accurate.

Any insight?

Sometimes it is just product awareness and marketing. I don't know the product "AgentPro247" so I can't speak to it's cost/benefit analysis. However, CPM was a superior operating system to MS/DOS (the forerunner of Windows) but MS/DOS won the day because of better marketing. Could be the same issue. Since it is cheaper than Listsource, which isn't expensive to begin with, run with AgentPro247 for 3 months and tell us the results.

Both are good products, but there are definitely differences. For example Listsource has almost 20 demographics fields vs. AgentPro247 only having 7. Listsource is a Corelogic product, which is a company that spun out of First American Title, whereas AgentPro247 is a BlackKnight product, which is a company that spun out of Fidelity Title. For many years the data products out of the FirstAm lineage were superior in terms of coverage, timeliness and quality. That gap has narrowed over the last 5 years, but will still vary by location. I always recommend testing in your specific area, as sometimes one is better in a particular county then the other. On price, keep in mind many people get better rates after talking to a sales rep at Listsource, and Listsource also has resellers that get better pricing, and they are sometimes willing to pass that along.

The bigger issue is that buying lists in this way is less than ideal:

* No way to preview your list before you buy to make sure it is really what you want.
* The list becomes stale the minute you buy it - changes continue to happen, and the only way to keep your list current is to purchase it over and over again.
* Even after you buy you don't get to see all the details behind the list, unless you buy a lot of expensive add-on options (title history, estimated values, equity, etc).