Housefax Launches Housefax Pro, a Subscription Service for Home History Reports

Last week Housefax announced the pending launch of Housefax Pro, a subscription service for Home History Reports, says Inman. With a subscription, real estate

Last week Housefax announced the pending launch of Housefax Pro, a subscription service for Home History Reports, says Inman. With a subscription, real estate agents can get unlimited Home History Reports for a monthly subscription fee, ranging from $89 to $469 per month. The subscription service is expected to launch next Monday, November 9.

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The Home History Reports provide an assessment of a home’s condition to real estate professionals, home inspectors, and home buyers and sellers. The information includes:

  • Property details
  • Building permits
  • Fire incidents
  • Natural hazards
  • Loan history
  • Insurance claims
  • Utility information
  • Carbon monoxide and meth lab checks
  • …and more.

The data comes from Census reports and other databases. Housefax covers 104 million, or 78%, of all U.S. homes. It does not charge for homes that do not produce a report.When Housefax launched the program in July 2013, it offered the Home History Reports for $59 each. In May of this year, the company changed its pricing structuring, offering the first report for free and each subsequent report at $10 to compete with free services like AddressReport which offer a similar service. Housefax tells us that home buyers and sellers can still get their first report for free, but subsequent reports will be $19 after the changes go into effect.Housefax calls it weeding out the duds: “A Housefax Property History Report lets you cross off houses with potential issues without moving further in the process. Avoid a ‘money pit’ by finding out about the history of the home BEFORE making an offer.”The new subscription pricing structure is based on the number of reports ordered each month:

25 reports $89/month
50 reports $159/month
75 reports $229/month
125 reports $349/month
150 reports $409/month
175 reports $469/month

Insider Take:It is interesting to see how Housefax’s pricing model has evolved since its initial launch, first at $59 per report, then free and $10, and now priced by the month via the Housefax Pro subscription. If you subscribe for 25 reports per month, that’s $3.56 per report…a lot less than $10, but more than free.Even a great real estate professional is unlikely to actually need 25 reports each month, but we can see the subscription option appealing to a real estate brokerage that serves multiple real estate agents and clients. Imagine the headaches and money one report can save all involved if they learn about a costly problem – or a deal breaker – early in the process because of a Home History Report! The service could easily pay for itself by helping folks avoid troublesome homes. For those who subscribe at the $469 level, reports will be as low as $2.68 each for real estate professionals and home inspectors.We wonder though if this pricing model will stick, or if Housefax Pro offers too many tiers and too many options. We’re guessing they are testing the product and price point, and will make adjustments, as they’ve done in the past, if warranted by increased competition or lack of demand. ~ Dana E. Neuts, Subscription InsiderNote: After our story published this morning, Housefax reached out to us. We’ve clarified several items in the story. Our changes are shown in italics. 

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