Steve Dean

How do buyers locate the home that they ultimately buy?

 

Knowing the answer to that question is always a benefit to sellers and real estate agents alike.

 

The answer isn't constant; it changes as the market changes and as buyer behavior changes.

 

In 2001, 48% of buyers found the home they purchased because a real estate agent introduced them to the house. Last year, that number had dropped to 34%.* 

 

Why are buyers locating few homes through their real estate agents? The answer is rather simple, the internet has allowed buyers to begin looking on their own before contacting an agent. The real estate agent is no longer the holder of the information of what is available.

 

Prior to the web and before working with an agent, a buyer might locate their home through a for sale sign in the yard of the home. In 2001, 15% of buyers find the home they purchased this way. In 2007, that number remained relatively constant at 14%.* A buyer might also find their home through the newspaper. In 2007, only 3% of buyers found the home they purchased through a paper. In 2001, that number had been only 8%. Newspaper advertising has never particularly successful, and the ability to see multiple interior photos of homes has greatly increased the popularity of searching for homes online.

 

In 2007, 29% of all buyers located the home they purchased through the Internet. That number was only 8% in 2001, and only 2% in 1997.* More and more, we meet buyers who have already seen the interior photos before we open the doors of the homes to them. These buyers are self-selecting which properties interest them and which do not.

 

I still remember my first open house where buyers walked in and said, "I remember this." Given that the property had just come on the market and this was the first open house, I was a bit surprised at the comment until I saw the print out of our website in their hands.

 

In the pre-Internet days, it was actually easier to know where to advertise. If the home was listed for sale in The Washington Post, your seller was happy. People came to the open house holding that day's paper with all the homes they would be visiting circle.

 

Today, it's not that simply. There is no one source for buyers on the web.

 

With all of our listings, we work hard to get them to as many places on the web as possible. Naturally, our listings go into the multiple listing service (that is where 34% of buyers will end up finding their homes), and then out to the web to many websites including:

 

• www.myDCagent.com (our website)
• remax.com
• realtor.com
• washingtonpost.com
• sell4.com (RE/MAX Allegiance)
• google.com (Google Base)
  
• Yahoo.com (real estate section)
• aol.com (real estate section)
  
• msn.com (real estate section)
• zillow.com
• trulia.com
• homesdatabase.com
• activerain.com
• localism.com
• cyberhomes.com
• homes.com
• Vast.com
  
• Geebo.com
• oodle.com
• DotHomes.com
• backpage.com
• overstock.com
• frontdoor.com
• and all of our competitor's websites

 

 

 

 

*Source: National Association of Realtors, Where Buyers First Found the Home They Purchased, 1997-2007

 

 

 

Until recently, investors could easily obtain a loan to purchase a cooperative unit as an investment.

Checking in with loan officers at JP Morgan Chase Bank, National Cooperative Bank, National City Mortgage, and Bank of America this past week confirmed that investor-loans for cooperative units remain unavailable.

 

To learn more about cooperatives, we recommend the Edmund J. Flynn website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church (600 M Street SW, Washington, DC) A church representative attended the ANC 6D01 Meeting and discussed the possibility of selling the church site to developers. The representative said no decision has been made at this time. St. Augustine's Episcopal Church's property abuts the land that is part of the District's redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront being led by PN Hoffman-Struever Brothers.

 

 

 

 

We're happy to offer our neighbors One Free Week Passes to Results Gym in Washington, DC complements of myDCagent.com.

Results has four locations:

Dupont Circle - 1612 U Street, NW 

Capitol Hill - 315 G Street, SE

Downtown - 1101 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Mt. Vernon Triangle - 445 K Street, NW

 

For more information on Results, visit their website: http://www.resultsthegym.com

To request your One Free Week Pass, visit http://results.myDCagent.com

 

Passes are limited to one per person. Please contact Scott Simpson (202.234.5678 x2) for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Greater Capitol Association of REALTORS reports it was able to get a one year exemption from the DC City Council for homes For Sale in regards to the Vacant House Tax -- the regulation that considers every vacant house a nuisance, even homes for sale and part-time residences. We continue to chip away at some of the more absurd facets of this regulation, and will until we get it right and make it a nuisance abatement bill (not just a nuisance for homeowners and sellers bill).