Shopping For a House via the Internet
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/19/real_estate/blogging_for_real_estate/index.htm
Blog if you love real estate
Bloggers are changing the equation when it comes to buying a house or condo.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Hello all, my name is Matthew Stoeber and I am a Senior double major in Finance and Marketing. With all due respect blogging about internet marketing is at best boring as #(*^$. Hopefully as the semester continues I can unveil a few articles that tickle your feather. In this day in age the internet provides us with a wide variety of information. If all goes well I will keep you updated about some of the information which is available to you when concerned with the price you pay for different products.
I’d like to begin by taking a look at the most advanced way to shop for a new home. Recently blogs have been started in order to inform homebuyers about some of the nitty gritty parts of real estate that you can’t find out just by going to an open house or from your agent. Things such as seasonal flooding, neighborhood restaurants, noise at night and other things along those lines are now recorded for many residential housing areas.
At websites like realtor.com and the now commonly used ebay this information is simply not provided. There is a picture of the property, some basic details and a bidding price. Now, on websites such as Curbed.com, and Gothamist.com as well as thousands of blogs, potential buyers can discover anything that current residents or recent buyers wish to post about the area/property conditions. I feel that these websites will offer enormous influence in the future of the real estate market. Since all of us are going to be in the market for housing over the next couple of years I feel that this type of new information will help us decide which area/property/type of residence is right for us. Finding a good price in such a competitive housing environment such as Long Island will be a challenge that I will be facing in the near future, and this type of information can definitely improve my chances of satisfying my housing needs. Post a comment if your little heart desires!!!
2 Comments:
My little heart desires to post....Personally I have very little time to sit down and read blogs all day, but for someone in the market for a new home, blogs might just be one way to get a feel for the property. Of course you can always visit the property yourself, but I think its a different way to get some perspective on a possible future purchase. But who actually posts the blogs? Is it the homeowners trying to sell the house and get a better deal for it by uptalking the value and its features? I can also see people creating blogs to bash other people's property - even if the statements aren't true- to increase their own sales in the industry. It was interesting to read how consumers' purchase intentions are influenced by blogs.
I think blogging about potential home purchases is a great idea for the buyer, but not all realtors would agree. I intern in the marketing department of a large home inspection service, and I've recently been able to spend a lot of time in different realtors' offices. They spend a lot of time trying to promote the most positive features of a particular house or piece of land, and they get angry when companies like the one I work for point out flaws to potential buyers. If buyers were able to read posts about homes for sale and get real information from its current residents or people who are familiar with the propery, it might help them make more educated decisions and avoid any jaded or embellished statements from a realtor just looking to get the sale.
Post a Comment
<< Home