IDX Website force sign ups or open?

[Philip Accardo]

I run a local real estate website that allows customers to search homes for sale in the area. I have it set up to force people to make an account if they want to view properties. I have it configured this way because statistically speaking, according to past industry "market testing" you get more conversions when you force signups. At the moment my website provides the user with 95% of the information for free, there are benefits of signing up, like receiving email notifications when properties that meet their criteria come on the market and bookmarking favorite properties.

My friends who are not in the real estate business but are business savvy told me they think I should keep it open and not require sign ups. This strategy would be completely against the industry grain. I assume that no one would sign up if I kept it open and I would be throwing money out the window. The other side of the coin is, the sign ups I do get most likely would convert, and I would end up wasting less time trying to convert leads that don't want to be converted. thoughts?

thank you!