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August
5, 2009
Tips & Trends
From
Rory S. Coakley on some of the latest real estate news
and happenings.
5 new tools for homebuyers
Real
estate Web sites are constantly coming up with new
ways for homebuyers to get information about the
market. Here are 5 new sites that can make house
hunting easier.
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House
Hunt on the iPhone
You're driving down a street and see a really
pretty home with a For Sale sign on the front
lawn. You write down the broker's information
and can't wait to get home to take a look at the
listing details.
If you have an iPhone, you can get the information
on the spot.
Zillow.com
released a free iPhone app last month, enabling
consumers to get the low-down on more than 88
million homes - and not just the ones for sale.
The app is GPS-powered so the map follows you
as you stroll, with price estimates popping up
along the way. Pass a sale sign and you can access
pricing, number of bedroom and baths, square footage
and other info.
"House-hunting is, inherently, a mobile experience,"
said Zillow's CEO Rich Barton in announcing the
launch.
This will add a whole other layer to that Sunday
afternoon perambulation.
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Find
Profitable Investment Deals
With home prices more affordable than they've
been in many years, there are some real bargains.
Investors who are less interested in the aesthetics
than the bottom line can try InvestorLoft.com's
new PropScout to find lucrative options.
The tool offers several search filters, which
go much deeper than just location and price. For
example, Estimated Equity finds homes with big
differences between listing price estimated value.
Cash Flow ranks homes by the profits they produce.
Cap Rate ranks by the percentage of profit on
investment.
The tool has listings in about 20 states and should
be in all 50 by early 2010, according to CEO Walter
Charnoff. Consumers can search by city, zip code
or property ID.
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Ferret
Out Cheap Houses
This spring Trulia.com
launched a nationwide filter that enables consumers
to search 3.2 million listings for price reductions.
Enter a town or zip code, and reduced-price homes
will come up.
Details include the number of times the price
has dropped, the dates, by how much and the percentage
of the reduction.
That's useful information: It can demonstrate
that the seller is getting especially anxious
about making the sale and consumers can adjust
their offers accordingly.
If, for example, a home has gone through price
cuts at regular intervals and is due for another,
a buyer may want to wait a few days to make an
offer.
The site also offers a new comparison feature
that allows consumers to look at four listings
side-by-side, making it easier to judge the home
features and data.
"The tools can be used to take the pulse of the
market today," said Ken Shuman, Trulia's head
of communications.
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House
Hunt on YouTube
The future of real estate marketing is in video,
according to many industry insiders. Why look
at static Web page photos when you can watch a
guided tour of a house and gardens?
The giant real estate brokerage franchiser Coldwell
Banker teamed up with Google subsidiary YouTube
to launch its own video channel last month. Viewers
can watch real estate agents talking about the
areas they serve, including the schools, parks,
restaurants and amenities that make up various
neighborhoods. There's a Browse-by-Map that shows
all the video listings across the country.
"Video gives a more robust, nuanced view of the
home," said Mike Fischer, VP of marketing for
the company.
Eventually, much of the site's content will be
listing videos that should help house hunters
cut through some of the clutter of homes for sale.
There are some listing videos up already and the
site is adding more all the time. It launched
with only 30 or so full fledged home tours and
now has about 300. When fully functional, the
total should be many thousands.
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Market Reports
Homebuyers wondering what the future holds for
their investment can turn to Cyberhomes
for a market report. The service, which costs
$9.95, provides projections for specific neighborhoods
and includes 12- and 24-month price-change forecasts.
It also reports the number of distressed, foreclosure
and REO properties within a ZIP code and then
compares that to the rest of the metro area and
the state.
The report also estimates the strength of the
local market and how the volume of sales will
change over the next 12 months.
The site introduces an element of logic to a transaction
that's often fraught with emotion. Homebuyers
often act too quickly when they find houses they
like, leading them to overpay.
So if the market report tells them that prices
may be in for a sharp fall and more homes are
coming onto the market, they may slow down and
make a more informed offer. If, on the other hand,
the report shows the market heating up, they may
conclude that a quick offer can save them some
money.
"In today's market, an understanding of the future
direction of property values and inventory levels
are key factors," said Jay Gaskill, president
of Cyberhomes.
Source:
Money Magazine
If you would like to suggest a topic for comment
in one of our future emailers, please let me know.
You can always reach me at rory@coakleyrealty.com
or by phone (301) 340-8700 ext. 101. I look forward
to hearing from you!
Rory S. Coakley
Coakley Realty, Inc.
20 Courthouse Square - Suite 106
Rockville, MD 20850
www.coakleyrealty.com
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