In the good old days of the late 1980s when the state of New York told me I was now capable of selling residential real estate, I knew they had no clue. Of course, I also had no clue, but that was part of the challenge.
That was before the internet and cell phones when every real estate office had a receptionist at the front desk who took messages and buyers and sellers had the good manners to wait until you returned their call. In that era, real estate was mostly confined to print advertising and labor-intense manual systems. Picture this: Listings were collected in three-ring binders for potential buyers to look through. Once they found the perfect home at the perfect asking price in the perfect area, it was out to the realtor’s car for an in-person tour of the home.
Once the multiple listing services were created, realtors could access available properties on the computer, assuming the computer was up and running and the little blue-haired lady who was selling real estate for 100 years could learn the process. And then of course, only licensed realtors could access multiple listing services.
That was then and this is now. In the real estate world of today, every available property for sale is at everyone’s fingertips, controlled by websites all competing for your eyeballs. Here’s a breakdown of the top sites:
The number one site and by far the largest real estate website in the country is Zillow. Zillow or “Zillow Surfing” is without a doubt addictive and provides listings from both the multiple listing services and for sale by owner. The site is free to buyers and sellers and at last count averaged 68 million monthly visitors.
The next most popular site is realtor.com (my personal favorite). The app allows you to search for homes, view pictures and video tours, compare neighborhood criteria like noise levels and provides information on flood zones. Listings are in real time and generally reflect all multiple listing properties.
Next up is Trulia, which focuses on local information and allows for personalized alerts with links to pre-qualified financing and financial calculators. Trulia may be a little too technical for the average property surfer but good to use when you have narrowed down your favorite location.
These are the most well-known and the most popular, but there are plenty more like apartments.com, FSBO.com and Homes for Heroes. There are also several home-buying websites that come and go on a regular basis. Zillow tried their hand at this, but their timing was off, starting when home prices were on a sharp rise. They have since dropped out but there are two others who are active – Flyhomes.com and Homelight.com.
Something that just came to my attention is a website called Roofstock.com, which provides listings and data for investors interested in rental properties to buy. Small investors are actively purchasing properties frequently out of state and are becoming “Laptop Landlords.” They claim they’re the number one platform for small and large remote investors looking to purchase rental properties.
The National Association of Realtors reports that approximately 51% of buyers found the home they purchased on the internet, only 28% found their home through their realtor and 4% from yard signs.
The good thing about the 1980s was the pace was considerably slower than today, which made it a lot easier to learn and bluff your way through situations you haven’t yet had the time to learn. Every day was a challenge and a learning experience, and so much more fun. Our lives may be different now, but I still miss those binders.
