News Highlights
Clicking for Condos: Buyers Surf the Web to Explore the Market and Buy Properties
Washington Post Express - ALIYA STERNSTEIN. Dated 05/26/2006
First-time home-buyer Chris Hall, 23, barely had time to haul his belongings into his new two-bedroom condo this March, between work and the hours spent rooting for his alma mater George Mason in the NCAA basketball playoffs.
Actually, the condo-buying process took a lot less effort.
Hall conducted much of the hunt from his home computer, using free Web sites that did the legwork for him. His main tool, BirdsEyeSearch.com paired Google's online mapping service with a real-time inventory of local resale properties entered by brokers' agents.
The inventory, which agents call a multiple listing service (MLS), ticked off price, location, year built, size and features. With this one site, Hall could pinpoint prospective condos that met his search criteria. Then, with a click, he could get a closer look at properties that interested him and map the condos' proximity to spots like his office or the grocery store.
Before discovering Birds EyeSearch, Hall was looking for a home on craigslist.org. He'd search for properties described as "located next to Metro's
Hall, a resource analyst at a software company, said that when he discovered the site, he realized it "was doing exactly what I was doing, except you could search a specific area, and it took a lot of the grunt work out."
During his apartment hunt, he came to depend on the site and a Realtor from
Like Hall, many people are tapping the Web to get the full scoop on properties, neighborhoods and real-estate trends. Call it surfing for shelter or clicking for condos �" the Internet is changing the way people buy homes.
With the 'net, buyers are not entering into condo sales clueless, placing all their trust in the agent. Nor are they cooped up with a strange Realtor in a car for hours. Researching the market online can also prevent buyers from being duped by Realtors.
"Agents are very territorial and try to steer clients to where they get the most commissions," said Daniel R. Odio, the
So does this signal an end to Realtors? Odio thinks real estate sites will never replace the role of a live pro, because consumers rarely have the time or know-how to read up on and execute complex financial and legal real-estate transactions.
Sites like his save buyers time and make the time Realtors like him spend with clients more productive. "A Realtor shepherds the client through the negotiation and closing. We can keep buyers from doing something stupid," Odio said.
But buyers need to be aware that BirdsEyeSearch and other sites that pull their listings from broker databases do not contain every available property in the condosphere. One big drawback to these sites is that new condos �" often advertised through in-house sales agents, not brokers �" are missing. To find your dream pad, you may have to visit a sales office. There are also sites that serve up information on new developments, like OnlyNewCondos.com, another Odio project.
Even consumers who did not grow up with the Internet are coming to rely on its resources.
Doug Meyers, a 47-year-old defense contractor, is using ArlingtonCondo.com to monitor the local market before he bids on any units. Meyers, who currently lives in a
ArlingtonCondo is built and maintained by real-estate agent Rick Bosl of Keller Williams Realty, who previously worked on database design as an information technology consultant. Bosl, an
Meyers said he appreciates ArlingtonCondo's ability to search within specific buildings and quickly suss out details like property amenities, year built, photos and, most importantly, current prices and past sales going back to 2000. The site describes nearly every condo development in
Having now tracked the site for a year, Meyers considers himself a knowledgeable consumer.
In fact, Meyers is so plugged in, he wonders about the day when Realtors might become obsolete.
"The percentage and the rates that they charge haven't gone down, but it seems to me that people can pretty much find what they're looking for without a realtor," he said.
Meyers believes real-estate agents ought to be more flexible with the commissions they charge, now that they do less work.
But he admits he will need Bosl to wade through all the paperwork and to unlock the properties. Coincidentally, Meyers is looking to purchase a two bedroom in Clarendon 1021 for between $600,000 and $700,000.
Bosl agrees that the Web has changed the nature of his work �" for the better. "Some Realtors tell me I give away too much info and that I should be withholding it until I get some information from the user. I say, ‘Welcome to the Internet Age,' " he said. "There are still a lot of dinosaurs in real estate who think their power comes by controlling information."
Before the Web, Realtors reigned over particular communities, refusing to share information with other agents. Consumers had to work with numerous brokers to see everything that was available.
Eventually, the development of the multiple listing service fostered cooperation between brokers. Then, when the Web came along and provided public access to the multiple listing service, Realtors had to alter their business approach.
Like many agents, Bosl figured out that a Web site could be a powerful ally if viewed as a marketing tool. That's why "the name is ‘ArlingtonCondo,' rather than ‘RickSellsCondos.' It's easier to remember," he said.
Some in the real-estate industry say that masking the name of the Realtor who runs the site deceives the consumer. Bosl laughs off the argument, saying it is easy to figure out he is behind the site because his name and credentials are plastered on every Web page.
Real-estate professionals warn that some Webmasters do indeed hide their identities because they know consumers will be reluctant to deal with a Realtor or lender.
There are sites run by Realtors that require users to register before they can research properties.
Laurel Howell, the director of Internet sales and marketing for multi-family housing developer KSI, said, "What they will do is give a brief overview. But, if you click for more information, you are asked to fill out an online form with your contact information before you can view all details."
She said, "You can find out who is maintaining the portal by viewing the ‘small print' either at the top or the bottom of the site."
Another negative: Web sites sometimes have outdated condo listings.
According to several Realtors, the National Realtor Association's Realtor.com, one of the most in-depth, recommended sites for studying how to buy a home, doesn't always show updated listings.
Most of the time, the 'net is more helpful than harmful, past regional National Association of Realtors Vice President Dale Mattison said.
"Twenty years ago, an around-the-Beltway tour would take weeks. Now, from the comfort of a desktop, a person can visit an entire region in a half an hour to an hour," said Mattison, an associate broker at Long and Foster.
Nationally, 87 percent of Realtors belong to firms that have a Web site, while 45 percent of sales agents have a business Web site, according to NAR. The popularity of these do-it-yourself sites has led some to contemplate whether online condo shopping is next.
Already, out-of-state residents can secure apartments in the
Eventually, the development of the multiple listing service fostered cooperation between brokers. Then, when the Web came along and provided public access to the multiple listing service, Realtors had to alter their business approach.
Like many agents, Bosl figured out that a Web site could be a powerful ally if viewed as a marketing tool. That's why "the name is ‘ArlingtonCondo,' rather than ‘RickSellsCondos.' It's easier to remember," he said.
Some in the real-estate industry say that masking the name of the Realtor who runs the site deceives the consumer. Bosl laughs off the argument, saying it is easy to figure out he is behind the site because his name and credentials are plastered on every Web page.
Real-estate professionals warn that some Webmasters do indeed hide their identities because they know consumers will be reluctant to deal with a Realtor or lender.
There are sites run by Realtors that require users to register before they can research properties.
Laurel Howell, the director of Internet sales and marketing for multi-family housing developer KSI, said, "What they will do is give a brief overview. But, if you click for more information, you are asked to fill out an online form with your contact information before you can view all details."
She said, "You can find out who is maintaining the portal by viewing the ‘small print' either at the top or the bottom of the site."
Another negative: Web sites sometimes have outdated condo listings.
According to several Realtors, the National Realtor Association's Realtor.com, one of the most in-depth, recommended sites for studying how to buy a home, doesn't always show updated listings.
Most of the time, the 'net is more helpful than harmful, past regional National Association of Realtors Vice President Dale Mattison said.
"Twenty years ago, an around-the-Beltway tour would take weeks. Now, from the comfort of a desktop, a person can visit an entire region in a half an hour to an hour," said Mattison, an associate broker at Long and Foster.
Nationally, 87 percent of Realtors belong to firms that have a Web site, while 45 percent of sales agents have a business Web site, according to NAR. The popularity of these do-it-yourself sites has led some to contemplate whether online condo shopping is next.
Already, out-of-state residents can secure apartments in the
Despite the ease of point-and-click purchasing, Realtors are not auctioning off condos on their sites yet.
"It's very easy to buy a pair of jeans or a pair of shoes online, but when you are talking about something that you are going to put your bed in and lay your head on the pillow, it's a much more personal [investment]. I don't think the Internet will ever take away the need to have real estate professionals," Mattison said.
Comfort is one part of the process that buyers cannot attain from a computer.
Realtor Jim McGowan, who has his own site and is listed on a broker directory called HomesDatabase.com, says, individual investors may be willing to do real-estate transactions online, but most Washingtonians aren't going to buy a condo or a house without seeing it first.
Argene Carswell, 49, a client of McGowan's, said Realtor personality was just as important as Web site performance when she was looking for help in buying her first home in January of 2005.
The organizational development consultant was intent on finding the perfect neighborhood. While looking online for
By making a phone call, the Web-shy shopper didn't have to worry about sending personal data into cyberspace. After that, most of Carswell's interaction with McGowan took place over the telephone and on the road.
But she did use the Web for one part of the process. Both McGowan's sites download the latest property data from the multiple listing service every 24 hours. Each morning, Carswell checked his personal site to see what was available within her set parameters.
Two months later, she grabbed a $325,000 two-bedroom at Skyline House in
The Web gave her confidence going into the buying process, but she couldn't have gotten through it without McGowan.
"The Internet can be a powerful tool. For me, it worked hand in hand with the Realtor … It's the synergy. I couldn't imagine how difficult it was before the Web was available," Carswell said.
Set Your Sites on a Condo
NewCondosOnline.com
Lets visitors search national database of ads for new/preconstruction condos. Site only contains condos that pay for coverage. Registration optional, if visitors want to save listings. Developers usually update the site's staff weekly. To reach condo sales reps, visitors click through to the property's Web site, call the sales office or submit name, e-mail address and phone numbers.
For more information, go to www.newcondosonline.com.
