Buyers Learn A Lot Online.

We have been talking lately about how much Buyers are getting from their online exploits, from their searching the Internet. We had a recent experience that opened our eyes even further on the matter. Jim was showing a listing to some folks when another person drove up to the property on a motorcycle. The man stopped, removed his helmet and took a flyer from the brochure box. Accommodating as he is, Jim opened the door and asked if he wanted to come in.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” exclaimed the man. “You must be Jim”, he continued. Of course, Jim was Jim, and so they talked. The man lives in Roseville, California and was purposely driving by that property after spending time in Reno looking at Hot August Nights cars that day. He has been watching the property online, not just from the property information viewpoint, but he actually went on Google Earth and saw the entire street, as well as the front and sides of the property. He knew things about the vacant property next door that we, unbeknownst to us, didn't ... and a lot about the neighborhood. He was ready for an onsite visit. We are continuing dialogue with the man, providing utility bills, etc., and there is a good likelihood that he will buy the property.

There is a plethora of websites where Buyers can get real estate information including: Oodle, Hotpads, OLX, Frontdoor, Backpage, Googlebase, Trulia, Dothomes, Vast, Zillow, Cyberhomes, Yahoo, Geebo in addition to the well known sites like Realtor.com, remax.com, coldwellbanker.com, c21.com, etc.. Additionally, most agents have their own websites, like ours listed below, that allows people to search the local Multiple Listing Service.

Not only can Buyers search for homes for sale, and pull up comparable sold properties to assist them in establishing value for your property, they can find out what you paid for the property, if you have a loan on the property, if you have tax liens, if there is a Notice of Default, etc. Want to know if there is a permit for the addition? That information is now available on line in Douglas County. Floodplain maps are now readily available online. Well logs and water right information is easily tracked down via the Internet these days. There is plenty more information available to the Buyer willing to search for it.

Not all Buyers have the knowledge, ability or desire to do such extensive search efforts on their own without the help of their agent, but it is important to know that there are Buyers that are doing it, and the extent to which they are working to get information. We have had numerous instances of Buyers calling us with their own list of homes that they want to see. Most of the time they have done such a thorough job of searching that the home they ultimately buy is included in their original “shopping” list.

Our Advice: In addition to a local presence in print media, it is important to Sellers and Buyers that their agent has good technology knowledge and a thorough Internet presence. The latter takes time, knowledge, and experience. Your property must “come up” for Buyers searching our area for property like yours. It isn’t easy, but then … if real estate were easy you wouldn’t need your agent. Remember, not all Buyers use the Internet. We still encounter Buyers that don’t even have an email address. One never knows where the Buyer for your home will come from … it is important that your agent be flexible and ready.

These are fun times being virtuosos in a virtual world, but there is no satellite or website will replace the agent on the ground to help a Buyer find the right house.

Experience is Priceless! Lisa Wetzel & Jim Valentine, RE/MAX Realty Affiliates, 775-781-5472, carsonvalleyland@hotmail.com, www.carsonvalleyland.com

There Are So Many Web Sites To Find Real Estate Information … Are They All Accurate?

No, they aren’t, but that should improve in the near future. The Real Estate Standards Organization, RESO, has recently approved a standard format for distributing real estate listing information. The solution is known as Real Estate Transaction Standard, RETS, a process that simplifies sending real estate information by allowing brokers and MLSs (Multiple Listing Services) to send their data to multiple real estate advertising Web sites without dealing with different data formats.

This is the culmination of a coordinated industry effort that has sought such a universal solution since 1999. Until now technology and software vendors were not coordinated and there were many software codes that could not exchange information with one another. This Standard allows software developers to write their code so they may exchange information back and forth online. The RETS working group, sponsored by the National Association of Realtors, will continue to meet and update the Standard as technologies change and new vendors come to the group with new ideas. For the techie reader wanting to know how the Standard works, the data feed is actually a data pull that is initiated by the subscriber using the RETS interface. RETS is an XML based query language that gives a developer the ability to create custom queries to pull MLS listing data from an MRIS server.

The Standard will be implemented immediately by many of the partner organizations. A partial list of partner organizations includes many MLSs across the country, Move Inc., eNeighborhoods, sShowings, Google, Yahoo, Homescape, Oodle, RealEstate, Realtracs, Threewide, Trulia, Zillow, etc. This is exciting for consumers and real estate practitioners alike. More consumers than ever are seeking real estate information online, and the standardized data format will make it easier for Realtors to feed their clients’ property listings to multiple real estate sites in one form saving them time and expense. Realtors can also get information on the traffic of real estate listing websites with more than 500,000 unique visitors including unique visitors (new, not repeat), visits per month, average minutes per month, avg. page views per visit, total visits, and total minutes the site was viewed. This will allow them to place their marketing information most effectively.

Our Advice: Enjoy the many opportunities to study the real estate inventory online in any community in the United States from your computer keyboard. Each commercial site has a different objective so be aware of what information is being directed to you, and where you are being directed. Also, be very careful with the information you receive – all is not always what it may appear to be. When comparing properties it is important to involve a real estate professional that is familiar with the area as there are often mitigating circumstances in sales or listings that must be interpreted so you are comparing apples of the same color and variety to one another. A lot premium surcharge, property condition, ownership status, property characteristics, etc. can all have an impact on value and must be considered in the valuation process – whether selling or buying.

Different sites have different updating policies resulting in some sites being slow to update, i.e.- changed pictures, denoting a property as sold or off the market, price changes, etc. Use the Internet to get your general information then call your real estate professional for current specific information relative to your wants and needs. Experience is Priceless! Lisa Wetzel & Jim Valentine, RE/MAX Realty Affiliates, www.carsonvalleyland.com or www.casonvalleland.net , email us at carsonvalleyland@hotmail.com or phone 775-781-5472.