Local Realtors say presence on multiple sites is a necessity, not an option, when selling a home |
| By Christa Buchanan |
C & G Staff Writer
The Web’s become a major player with real estate listings.
“The importance of online marketing in selling homes has skyrocketed,” said Joanna Darmanin, a Realtor with Century 21 Town & Country in Birmingham. “It has really changed drastically in the last couple of years as more people, I think the stat is 78 percent, start their preliminary search online.”
“Everyone’s going online to look,” said Realtor Gary Patrosso of Keller Williams.
Whereas in the past Realtors had to sift through massive stacks of multiple listing service (MLS) listing books to find homes to show clients, they now simply go online.
“Years and years ago, those books would be outdated before they were even printed; we still see that sometimes with our magazine — sometimes people see a house in it that they really like, but it’s already been sold,” said Patrosso. “The Internet, on the other hand, is live, so when I mark a listing as pending, within 24 to 48 hours all sites are updated.”
Utilizing Web-based MLS listings not only saves time — and trees— but also gives agents and their clients the most comprehensive, up-to-date listings available and makes it easier for agents to narrow down homes for showings, as buyers now have a more interactive approach in their home search.
“As short as five to seven years ago, people had to contact a Realtor to interpret the listings, but nowadays all that information — photos, neighborhood and school stats, community information, you name it — is right at their fingertips,” David Reese, associate broker/manager of Real Estate One in Troy. “Buyers can make a decision about which homes they want to see much easier by looking at photos on the Web. It has really assisted in terms of quickly eliminating homes they’re not interested in.”
That’s why sellers need to make sure that their agent has access to multiple MLS sites, as well as links on myriad Web sites.
“Internet marketing is essential — it’s the way the majority of savvy buyers start their home search. … Sellers really need to find out what kind of Web marketing their agent plans on doing, how many Web sites the listing will be linked to … to make sure their home is getting maximum exposure,” Reese said, adding that even non-traditional venues, such as YouTube and Craigslist, are being utilized.
It’s the local MLS Web sites, however, that attract the most traffic, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Web site, www.realtor.org.
“MI Real Source and Realcomp are the MLS sites that are most used by agents, and sellers really need to use an agent that uses both. Some agents have one and not the other, but most good agents use both,” said Patrosso. “MI Real Source now has a Listingbook link, and that’s just a phenomenal tool. It shows real-time listings, the competition in the area, price reductions, if there’s an offer pending.”
Making home searches quicker by giving clients a more interactive approach to buying or selling a home isn’t the only way technology has changed the scope of the real estate.
“It’s really redefined the role of a Realtor. Now, because of the amount of information available to the public at large, the expectations and level of information required is much greater than it’s ever been,” Reese said. “We understand that the public expects a level of service and information that exceeds what they can access themselves.”
To meet those expectations and better serve their clients, Realtors must constantly take courses to up their expertise of such topics as short sales and foreclosures, among others, and continually be on the lookout for homes that meet specific criteria, such as lot or garage size, that the public can’t access.
“Agents can access a lot more criteria than the public can — we can search very specific criteria, such as if the house has a fenced-in yard or an attached garage. We also can access the price down to the dollar, not just the price range you can find on public sites like Realtor.com,” Darmanin said.
To keep up with their clients’ fast-paced, tech-influenced lifestyles, Realtors are also investing in more tech tools.
“Well, I don’t think an agent could survive without a digital camera. You need to be able to take the photos, download them and put them on the listing site as soon as possible, and they need to be good, quality photos, and you need to constantly update them, especially if the home’s been on the market for a while,” said Darmanin, adding that a PDA with e-mail and Internet access is also essential to keep up with clients’ demands.
“You definitely have to be able to access e-mail anywhere because you have to be at your client’s beck and call,” she said.
Not only does the Web-savvy public expect a faster response time, said Patrosso, but they also expect more comprehensive information, such as whether the home is a short sale or foreclosure, the price, any problems with the home and photos of everything, even if the home isn’t in the best condition.
“If it looks shabby, they’ll see it, and hopefully, the price will reflect that. It’s all about not wasting people’s time,” he said.
Darmanin can be reached at (248) 225-7419, Patrosso at (586) 541-4058 and Reese at (248) 813-4900.
You can reach Staff Writer Christa Buchanan at cbuchanan@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1061.
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