The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants more information about homebuyers and it’s willing to pay for it.
According to an email sent Tuesday to consumers, the CFPB is partnering Zillow to gather more information about consumers’ experiences buying and selling a home.
The email states the CFPB asked the online real estate giant for assistance in contacting prospective homebuyers to participate in a research study about home buying.
“The CFPB is inviting you to participate in a federal research study about the experience of buying a home and finding a mortgage,” the email states. “Your survey responses will help the CFPB build tools and resources to educate and empower future homebuyers.”
The email states that the CFPB hopes that consumers will take the time to share “your unique experiences” with the CFPB via this study.
The email states that the CFPB is particularly looking for people who are actively shopping or planning to shop for a home in the near future.
But the CFPB isn’t asking consumers to participate in the study out of the goodness of their hearts, it’s offering to pay them for their time.
The Zillow/CFPB email states that if one completes the initial 20-minute survey, the CFPB will send the participant a $5 thank you card, and apparently there are several different options to choose from.
After completing that first survey and getting their free $5, consumers will then have the chance to complete 5-minute “check-in” surveys to be taken “every few weeks.”
If the consumer completes those subsequent surveys, at the end of the study, the CFPB says that it will send consumers an additional $20 thank you card.
So for just less than an hour of a consumer’s time, the CFPB will pay them $25 just for their opinion.
Nice work if you can get it.
