Marin Real Estate Internet Fever

The real estate industry has a fever and the only cure is more internet! The internet has revolutionized real estate, buyers and sellers can now see what agents see, an industry that was once opaque is now transparent. Buyers can now further due diligence what they hear from their agents and agents have to be conscious of the importance of internet marketing and the fact that over 80% of all buyers start their search on the internet. That being said, the internet has caused some major problems in the real estate industry and we thought, “What better way to start a new blog on a new ultra-advanced real estate site than to start with a word of caution?” Below is a brief overview of what parts of the internet revolution have been blessings, and what parts have been curses and I hope for comments from readers to bring up more:

Benefits of the Internet to Real Estate

• Online home search makes you no longer have to rely on your agents subscription to MLS
• The ability to quickly see “Comps”
• Directions to homes from sites such as Google maps
• Easy centralized place to see open houses in your area
• Proliferation of knowledge through bogs such as this one
• Buyers can quickly diligence realtors and home sellers online with a quick Google search
• Email campaigns done through sites such as Campaign Monitor and Mail Chimp
• Online CRM systems allow you to have full access to your clients where every you are
• The ability to quickly search foreclosures and short sales in your neighborhood (Visit our Marin Foreclosures section for more)
• Quickly get honest opinions on schools and communities (View our San Anselmo Real Estate Example: San Anselmo)
• Diligence potential neighbors to see who you will be living next to
• Social networking sites such as facebook & Linkedin allow agents to extend their network and gain valuable referrals

Negatives of the Internet to Real Estate

• The proliferation of “For Sale By Owner” sites has lead quite a few sellers down a difficult path ( Read more on our page “The Dangers of Using Discount Online Agents"
• Too much information makes it difficult to know who to trust
• Some sites have just plain wrong information on homes for sale and as an agent it can be difficult to manage buyer/seller expectations when certain sites “pull” incorrect information
• Older, experienced agents are getting pushed out of the market because of a lack of tech knowledge

Any others that I may have missed? Feel free to comment!

- Peter Narodny runs the top real estate website in Marin County, CA: www.marinrealestate.net