So you’re just starting to think it may be time to sell your house. What do you do first? In the not too distant past, you would probably call a real estate agent and ask him/her to come over and give you an idea of what your property is worth. However, today you will more than likely pickup your smart phone, laptop or pad to get an idea of what’s selling in the area, either through Facebook or one of the many real estate search engines available.

You may think, OK I just got a lot of information really fast and move on to the novel you’re reading on your e-book reader. But what you may have actually done by searching on the Internet is providing information to companies who buy data subscriptions targeting prospective clients.

No surprisingly algorithms have been created to identify sellers based on age, children’s age, net worth, value of home, social circles and possibly even more personal details. This information is then marketed to the real estate community in order for it to solicit you via direct mail, telephone or Internet contact.

It’s pretty common to have pop-ups connected to something you were recently searching for on the internet, cars, hotels, even clothing. Well it’s sort of the same thing; the marketing company generates the algorithms based on your searches and then sends you online ads from their real estate clients that fit what you were looking for. Brilliant and effective target marketing without anyone leaving their desks.

Even the aged old technique of scanning obituaries for real estate leads has come into the 21st century. There a number of new firms that track major life events like marriage, divorce and, of course, death that are prime reasons people sell their homes. These companies do all the time consuming work of checking title company records, probate records and obituaries compiling a list of homeowners or their heirs, most of which have paid up properties and have to sell. For a monthly fee, an aggressive agent can get this information and contact the individual or the family hopefully in a tasteful way.

Another major source of leads for real estate professionals are homes that are being marketed by their owners as for sale by owner or FSBO. Homeowners decide to market their properties themselves primarily to avoid the real estate commission, which is typically 6 percent. Many professional homeowners feel that they are more than adequately capable to sell their biggest asset themselves, especially with the help of FSBO Websites.

In spite of the availability of Internet Websites to help, the for sale by owner market is still a small piece of real estate sales. In 2014 according to the National Association of Realtors, only 9 percent of sales took place without an agent, a percentage that is down from 14 percent 10 years ago.

In addition FSBO properties sell lower maybe because sellers have more flexibility in price since they don’t pay commission or maybe because they just want to get a very difficult process over with. Whatever the reason, sellers don’t have access to the pool of buyers that are just right for the property that real estate professionals do. Since agents don’t want to waste their valuable time, it’s unlikely they will be bringing buyers to your home if they’re are not qualified to buy and are not looking for your type of property.

If you’re trying to keep a secret, don’t go on the Internet, where a smart technical egghead will match you up to the little black dress you’ve been looking for or the beachfront home. Well, maybe that’s not too bad. After all, who needs secrets?