By BOB & DONNA McWILLIAMS, For The Capital
Published 03/29/09
"In a relatively short period of time, computers have become an integral part of our lives. Whether it's a desktop, laptop, or now with our cell phones, we're connected to an endless world of instant information. And today there's widespread usage of networking Web sites like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook. This increasing dependency on the computer has led us to believe that just about anything can be accomplished with a sliver of silicon and a high speed broadband connection.
When it comes to real estate, computers are a great way to search for a home. You can very accurately define your area of interest and get a lot of information, including pictures of just about everything, from the half bath in the hall, to a satellite shot from space showing the whole community. Back in the dot.com bubble, there was a lot of talk that computers might make real estate agents obsolete. It was widely believed that virtual house hunting could replace much of what an agent does. Fortunately for agents, this theory overestimated the ability to complete the process online and the breadth of services an agent is required to perform. In short, real estate always has been and always will be a contact sport. The human dimension is critical to a successful outcome.
Nevertheless, some parts of the house buying and selling process have changed as we integrate computers and related technologies into the mix. With some guidance, you can get the most out of your online real estate efforts and discover ways to effectively coordinate them with the face-to-face part of the experience.
Generally, some time spent with your keyboard and mouse is a good way to do a lot of the advance research. Whether you're a buyer or a seller, the Internet can give you an initial look at what's on the market and what homes have been selling for. You can also get a flavor for the process of home buying/selling and tips on how to proceed. However, we have a word of caution. The Internet is global in nature, and largely unregulated. As a result, not all of the information you find there is necessarily accurate, nor may it properly speak to the rules of the road for real estate in your particular locale. The way people buy and sell homes in California can be quite different from how we do it in Maryland.
There are literally millions of Web sites devoted to helping people who are looking to buy or sell a house. We don't have any specific recommendations, but the three we often hear about are www.Realtor.com, www.Trulia.com and www.Zillow.com. Realtor.com is far and away the most used Web destination, with a market share that's more than twice the next closest real estate Web site. It's the oldest Web site and search engine for houses, as well as the official site of the National Association of Realtors.
Nonetheless, picking a site to work with is largely a personal preference. They all look a bit different and can provide information to you in a variety of formats. We suggest you try several and you'll find which one is most comfortable, given the nature of your search, level of computer expertise, and general feel for how it.
In addition to the three sites we mentioned, every real estate company and nearly every real estate agent also has a Web site. You should try a few of these as well. If it's a regional real estate company, these sites can sometimes be better at providing localized information that might be more relevant to your geographic search area.
Regardless of which Web site you settle on, searching for a house to buy doesn't require you to visit multiple sites as a way of finding everything that's out there. Essentially all of the Internet search engines are playing from the same deck of cards. When a real estate agent puts a property in the multiple list system (MLS), it automatically populates to all of the Web sites like Realtor.com or Trulia. It doesn't matter if it's a Long & Foster or from Champion, or a listing by any other company in the country. If it goes into the MLS, it'll show up on most all of these Web sites. The one exception to this is a "for sale by owner." But even these properties can be found on the Web at places like www.ForSaleByOwner.com.
When it comes to an individual agent's Web site, some agents may show a large number of listings on their site, but that doesn't always mean all those listings belong to that particular agent. That agent may have just imported another agent's listings from the MLS to feature on their site. If an agent does this, they must clearly denote the name of the company to which these listings actually belong. Also, some agents may show listings on their site which are sold and no longer available. Not all Web sites download their information directly from the multiple list system. In these cases, the status on a property might not immediately be updated, when it's changed in the MLS.
This brings us to the human side of the equation. Despite the enormous amount of information out there in the virtual world, you're still going to need a real person to get the job done. The process of buying and selling houses includes so many intangible details that there aren't enough gigabytes out there to accommodate them all or replace the judgment necessary to complete the task.
Buying a house isn't like buying a book. There's a lot of emotion involved and the experience of a good agent can help carry you across the finish line to a successful end result.
A computer can give you a bunch of pictures, along with the price and location of a house. But when it comes to evaluating the potential value of it, determining if you really want to live there and negotiating a deal, it's best to get offline and work with a real person whom you trust.
If used properly, computers will continue to be a valuable tool in the real estate business. Just remember, real estate, like many other professions, is a people business. It always has been and always will be."
Originally published at hometownannapolis.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment