Real estate pundits have predicted for the past 15 years that the Internet would become the major media for home buyers to shop, as well as a place to advertise for home sellers. Only in the past few years has it become the norm for real estate shoppers in California. It's said that currently 70 percent of all consumers start their home search on the Internet. Print advertising is finally taking a "back seat" to Web advertising. Online advertising has recently been growing at a rate of 31 percet per year.
Since 2005, the Web is the most often used method for selling a home. Consumers can navigate the local home market on their own terms and at times that are convenient for them; thereby eliminating most of the effort previously spent shopping from the car.
Using the Internet to shop is fast. Homes are exposed almost instantaneously upon being listed rather than waiting for the Sunday paper to arrive. Similarly, all changes of status on homes occur much more quickly on the Internet, so the chances of a home buyer getting excited about a home that has already sold are less. You don't have to leave home to visit online tours of properties available in the local market. Home buyers universally agree the Internet provides a better sense of control for the home buyer.
However; most home buyers do not see the Internet as a replacement for a good local real estate agent. They see it more as a research tool that saves time for both the buyer and the agent.
The Internet is particularly important for first-time home buyers because they are generally younger consumers who are more at home online and they need more research in order to feel comfortable buying their first home. Furthermore, the purchasers and sellers feel as though they get quicker responses from their real estate agent by communicating online.
The California Association of Realtors did extensive research to determine several differences between the traditional home buyer and the Internet buyer. Internet buyers have an annual income of roughly $40,000 more than traditional buyers. A little over half the Internet buyers said the information they gathered from the Internet was less useful than that provided by Realtors. None of the purchasers would consider information gathered from the Internet to be more useful than the Realtor. Internet buyers spend an average of nearly six weeks researching the buying of a home before contacting a Realtor. That is nearly three times the amount of time spent by traditional buyers who only spent two weeks at that stage of the buying process. Conversely, Internet buyers only spent two weeks looking for the home they wanted to purchase, whereas a traditional buyer spent more than seven weeks. Internet buyers visited just under seven homes with their agents versus 15 homes for traditional buyers prior to making a purchase.
So, if you're thinking about buying or selling a house and you need information before you call your favorite Realtor, jump onto the Web and take a test drive of the local home real estate market.
Stephen C. Spencer, Broker, Gateway Realty has been licensed in California real estate for 31 years. He is co-owner of Gateway Realty with Beverly Dorsett, who manages four residential offices from Green Valley to Vacaville. He is also a principal at Premier Commercial, as well as at Solano Property Management.
