Have you seen this site, Homethinking.com?

According to their home page, it's designed to show consumers the "transactional histories of real estate agents and mortgage lenders.  In theory the idea is great – find out what kind of experience your REALTOR® or mortgage lender has before contacting them.  One of the great things the internet has provided is the ability to research and qualify BEFORE ever talking with a practitioner.  I'm sure what they're doing is just compiling statistics from public records and MLS statistics, I just wish the figures Homethinking gives were right …

If you look at my bio, it says that I sell 3 bedroom homes, averaging $214000 per sale.  When I compare that to statistics from the New River Valley's MLS, I see that they got that ALMOST right.  My average sale has been $217437 over the last five years, but they also say I'm selling 35 properties right now.  I WISH I was selling 35 properties right now, but it's more like 11:

Of the homes they show on the first page, one of them I had listed but didn't sell (yes, it happens from time to time), three others I sold last year, and two that are listed as homes are actually land. 

So what's the point?   While I welcome the opportunity to demonstrate how we stand out from the crowd, how reliable IS this data, really?  If Homethinking shows we're actively selling 35 properties, does that give a potential buyer or seller the impression that we're too busy for them?  Can you even make an informed decision off of information like this?

Since we're discussing the issue of relevant information, they recommend other real estate agents in our area, as well.  I'm sure this is a rotating, revolving ad, but they're advertising a Northern Virginia agent as serving Blacksburg.  That doesn't seem very relevant.

Just another reminder that while sites like HomeThinking.com try to be a one stop shop for finding the best agents out there, sometimes you need to do a little more research.  Talk to them … read their blogs … get to to know them … perhaps your perceptions will be changed, and maybe they'll be validated, but you'll know that you can rely on your findings 100% of the time.