Digital house hunting now the norm
Since 1975 American Express has used the slogan, “Don’t leave home without it,” referring to the importance of always having one of its credit cards with you. In the digital world we live, in don’t leave home without it now also means don’t leave home without your mobile device, especially if you’re looking for a home.
The world of real estate digital house hunting is no longer for the young and sophisticated techie; it’s now the norm. According to a collaborative study conducted by Google and the National Realtor Association, 90 percent of home buyers today start their home searches online. And according to Realtor.com more than half of all page views of listings nationwide occur through a mobile device in order to gather primary information when embarking on a house hunt. Of those mobile searches, more than twice as many listings are viewed via iPad and iPhone than Android devices.
But not every buyer in every price range is comfortable searching on mobile devices. Interestingly, buyers in the $250,000 and under range use their mobile devices the most when house hunting, and buyers in the $1 million dollar and up range use their mobile devices the least.
Nevertheless, mobile devices are becoming almost as important as desktop computers in searching for a home. They afford users the ability to instantly research a property for sale that they may have just driven by, compare home values in a particular vicinity and even determine which school district the property is located in.
There are plenty of Apple and Android apps that can be downloaded on to mobile devices so that you’re not more than a touch away from valuable information. The most popular of these are Zillow, Realtor.com, and Trulia.
There is a new one I recently read about called Kurio which provides much of the same information, including homes for sale in a particular location or in a particular zip code with a full property description and photos. Kurio also can perform a GPS search so you can view nearby communities as well as providing market updates and mortgage rates.
You can find these and other apps on your mobile device’s app store. In addition, most real estate companies have Websites today, and many of the larger companies also have apps. If you’re working with brokers, ask them about access to their Website and also if they have a mobile app available for your device.
Also discovered as part of the Google and NRA study are senior house hunters who are shopping on the Internet in record numbers. Seventy-five percent of senior home buyers go online to search for a home, and 30 percent of senior home buyers first learned about the home they eventually purchase online. In addition, vacation home shoppers are also using the Web, both desktop and mobile, to find second homes. Ninety-three percent of vacation home shoppers use the Internet during a home search, and 56 percent of vacation and second home buyers started their search online.
This represents one-fifth of vacation home shoppers using Internet search engines to gather their information. Since both senior and second home buyers are very important to the Florida real estate market for both purchases and rentals, it’s not hard to understand how vital the Internet has become to the Florida real estate industry.
Personally, I never leave home without my Realtor.com and Trulia apps loaded and ready to roll. Realtor.com is always set for listings on the Island and in Cortez, and Trulia sends me an e-mail alert when a new property is listed in the areas I designated. I’m probably a little obsessed, but when my iPhone beeps and it’s Trulia, I answer.