Why There are Better Places to Begin Your Online Home Search

Looking to buy or sell a home in Athens, Georgia? Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price  Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (706) 621-6085 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

If you have been paying attention to the news recently, you may have heard that Zillow has entered into an agreement to purchase competitor Trulia for $3.5B in stock. These companies make their money by charging Realtors, like us, to become premier agents on their site and to buy ad space. It will be interesting to see what this merger creates, because neither company is profitable, yet their stock prices seem to be high. 

These sites are all well and good, but we have a few problems with them that we'd like to let you know about. The first thing to talk about is the "zestimate". The zestimate is a computer generated valuation of a property. The computer uses an algorithm to compute what it thinks a property is worth. We have seen zestimates be right on target, but more often than not we have seen them be way off.

Another problem with these sites is that some of their information and data is inaccurate. It's not uncommon for us to get a call from a client about a property they are interested on Zillow, only to find that it has been sold for weeks and is no longer available. 

If you want to have an accurate online home search experience, we have a few sites for you to check out. athenshomesearcher.com and athensareahomesearch.com are two sites that you need to visit. They feed directly from the Athens MLS and are more up-to-date and accurate than Trulia or Zillow.

A home search website is simply a tool for looking at properties and is in no way a substitute for a real estate agent. The reason we say this is because most of the best deals we get for our clients often happen before a property is even listed. When you can sell a property for a client without having to put it on the market and at the same time help a client buy a property without having to compete with other buyers, it's a win-win for all parties involved.

If we can do anything for you, a friend, family, or a co-worker, please feel free to give us a call. We would love to point you in the right direction!

Highlights from Gary Keller's Speech on our National Real Estate Market

Looking to buy or sell a home in Athens, Georgia? Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price  Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (706) 612-1094 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

I want to share with you a speech that Gary Keller gave at the Keller Williams Convention in Phoenix a few weeks ago. He spoke about the state of the real estate market in America, as well as other influences like the economy and inflation. I thought he had a lot of interesting things to say, and I'd like to share them with you.

Key Points from Gary Keller's Speech

• Over 5 million homes were sold in the US in 2013, which is the highest number since 2006: This is a bright sign for the future of our national market, and I think you may have noticed the market here in Athens starting to warm up a bit as well.
• Distressed sales - both short sales and foreclosures - are down dramatically:
• These kinds of sales made up 49% of the market in 2009, 40% of the market in 2011, but only 14% of the market in 2013.
• Since 2009, the percentage of short sales on the market is down by 35%.
• Buyers are finding their homes through different avenues:
• The internet is leading the way with 43% of homes found online.
• Real estate agents managed to find 38% of properties.
• Only 2% of people found their homes in a printed ad.
• Most people have been finding real estate agents through referrals of friends (40% of consumers), however:
• Only 12% of buyers used their previous agent again.
• Only 25% of sellers used their previous agent again.
• This is particularly unsettling to agents throughout the nation, but it only means that we need to step up our service and assure the satisfaction of our customers here in Athens and beyond. Your experience with us is valued, and 50% of our business last year came from former clients and referrals.
• How did properties sell?
• 88% of properties were sold through a real estate broker.
• 9% sold through a for sale by owner.
• 1% sold through an investor.
• The 9% of owners that sold their own homes was surprising to me. I realize these people were trying to save on commission, but it's been shown that hiring a realtor will get you a better price for a home whether you're buying or selling.

These are just a few of the things that caught my attention, so I hope this information has been helpful to you. If you have any questions or comments, or if you would like to talk to me about Athens real estate, please call me. You can reach me at (706) 621-6085 or you can visit www.justinwoodall.com