> The first problem I see is trying to selling
> it using the pitch of client does all the
> work and owner just spends 5 minutes each
> making $25 per minute. I don't think the
> market is big enough to only cater to the
> computer savvy users with no support ... the
> owner will need to do most of the computer
> work.

This may be true to some degree. The seller is NOT going to walk in with complete information on his property. He is going to have to go home and collect things like his Tax ID/APN and/or legal description and his last annual tax bill. Other than that, everything is a fill in the blank... How many bedrooms, how many bathrooms, etc.

By providing the seller with a form he has to fill out with the appropriate information, he is going to be able to do the data entry with no effort.

Not shown in the sales material is the business building guide that illustrates secondary sources of income - including input of the record for the seller (only 1 of 8 different sources).

Granted, we recommend $25 per record, but it only takes 5 minutes or less to do this. But, it cannot be done without complete information from the seller, such as legal description, asking price, property tax information, etc.

> Next, I question the suggested value of the
> service. $125 to $250 for a 6 month on your
> own listing? I doubt it and your buyers who
> give you $1500 will be disappointed.

Currently in Pahrump, NV (a town of 30,000) there is a FSBO site (pahrumpforsalebyowner.com - last updated 02Jan02) that is charging $379 for a basic listing and...

"$379.00 paid to PahrumpForSaleByOwner.com when initiating the listing and the balance of $621.00 paid to All-Star Realty at closing. The maximum sales commission can never be more than 4% of the sale price"

...for an MLS listing and a "reduced" commission if the house is sold EXCLUSIVELY through All-Star Realty.

Even though I don't think these people are marketing it right (no newspaper and not radio/tv ads) they are listing more and more houses around the valley. Currently there are 20 listed on their site with some sold and some pending sales in that list. They are doing something right.

> However, I challenge you to prove it. Setup
> your system in a test city, follow your
> business plan and use the real numbers and
> results to pitch this opportunity. That
> would be meaningful.

It is in the works and should be opertional next month.

> What I like is:
> 1) Doing this as a regional business where
> the owner takes out classifed ads to give
> value not provided by listings on yahoo.
> 2) Providing signs and other marketing
> materials.
> 3) Selling this as a business opportunity.

These, I believe, are the most important selling points. If SoftNuggets cannot provide value in these areas, the idea is useless to our buyers.

I am still working on the Business Builder's Guide but it is already 48 loose leaf pages. I should have it finished by Monday.

It covers things like "How to Jump Start Your Business", "Secondary Income Streams", "Presentation Slides", "Classified Ads" (for both drawing sellers into the store and drawing buyers to the website to get the seller contact information.), all the forms needed to run the business, recommended legal and financial resources, etc.

> What I would like to see in the product is a
> more powerful toolset with ad tracking.
> Realistic expectations and training and
> support for the owner. The entry fee would
> be higher (say $2995) and a hosting fee (say
> $100 month when established).

These are in the works. Everyone buying will get 1 year free software upgrades. Training will be handled by phone and 24 hour email support will be available. The $1597 price is a special introductory price valid only through January 31, 2003 and will jump to $2497 February 1st. As more of the tracking tools come on line, the price is eventually projected to be $3497 or higher.

Viktor and I realize that we need to generate some money to keep this project on track. We also realize that we still have a long way to go to complete the project as originally conceived.

And that is one of the reasons we are offering the software upgrades at no charge... We will need continued input from real world sites to keep improving the product.

> A real life example site can be found at:
> http://littlepicketfence.com I don't like
> some parts of the design of their site (ex.
> the text chasing cursor) but they have
> proven the market. Right now I had a problem
> pulling up the listed homes and also it
> looks like the listings are down. When I
> researched this before it looked like it
> would be good for about $10,000-25,000 per
> year to the owner ... nice part time
> opportunity to the right stay at home person
> with the right expectations.

I also had problems with the listings at LPF. I think that $10K-$25K is a EXTREMELY conservative estimate as to the money someone can make with this service, especially in a large metro area like L.A. Guess we will have to wait and see.

Thanks for your input, Rob. Look forward to continuing this discussion as NuggetHomes becomes more robust.

Steve