4114Homes.com - Stephen M. Wigg

Some Questions we all should be asking:

• If a Consumer puts in a search Criteria like "All Real Estate Listings" do they realize they are seeing all active listings when they log into a local Broker's web-site?
  • Or do they see the URL and wonder what they're missing, making sure to go to another site in town?
• Do Consumers want to talk to the Listing Agent in these broker sites where the contact information is different.
  • In Omaha, Brokers only show listing broker even though MLS bylaws require the agent name and broker name.
• • Some sites make the contact person seem like it's the listing agent.
• Do Consumers want to give out their name or shop anonymously?
• Do Buyer's Agents use the internet interactively with clients or print out information and keep the clients ignorant to their search techniques?

It's a new generation of sharing this data and what I've been reading shows nothing along the lines of the same level of cooperation and reciprocity as in the days of the MLS books. In designing our web-site as a Public-Facing MLS site, we want to know what Consumers want and what Agents need.

On a personal note, my mother told me she sent a box of thank-you notes, to my grown daughters because they didn't send Christmas Thank-you cards YET. I sent them a text and my eldest called and said "Gramma is like a Thank-you Nazi" and laughed because I was gullible to think she actually DID send self-addressed thank-you cards to me 20 years ago.

"Did you get that box of thank-you's I sent you?" she asked me back then.

"No Mom, I didn't." I laughed.

"Well, how would I know?" she said, "You didn't send me a thank-you card!" I almost explained the obvious, i.e. I can't thank her for something I didn't get. And I never got them!

Wait, she did it again and both Stephanie and Jessica say she's crazy. "Yeah, crazy like a fox." She has me blogging about it! The joy is in giving. Give your parents the joy of receiving thank-you cards! Then send them to my web-site?

On the professional side, nothing works better than a hand-written note. This internet stuff isn't the same as a few lines of thanks for getting a listing, selling a house, etc.

We want to get inside the head of Home Buyers to make our website better:

• Where do you go and what process do you follow?
  • To a specific Broker Website, like NPDodge.com or to a Google Search?
    • How many sites do you use over and over?
    • Do you feel each Broker shows all the same listings?
• If you search on Google, what criteria do you ask for? (e.g. "Omaha Real Estate" or "Homes for Sale, Omaha")
• Do you have to sell your home first before you even start looking?
• Are you pre-approved for another mortgage before you start your search?
  • Don't Agents ask you this time and again before helping you?
• When searching, do you like the "run-&-gun" approach or at your own pace?
  • Working with an agent and having him provide the properties he wants you to view?
  • Do you prefer shopping anonymously where you view all the properties you want, putting together the list of properties you want to see?

All of the above questions you have answered will help us designing our website to help you in your Home Buying process.

Background:

I'm working with agents that have more than 30 years in the business. I'm the web designer.

• I've purchased 4 homes, using Buyer's Agents twice, when I finally realized their value.
• I didn't know it wouldn't cost me anything to use a Buyer's Agent (I know some can charge) OR SAVE ME ANYTHING to NOT use a Buyer's Agent!
• Without a Buyer's Agent, I hated going to Open Houses and getting grilled for my information by the Listing Agent, trying to become my Buyer's Agent. Again, I didn't know they were "Free".
• I never realized if the house is empty and I dial the number on the yard sign, after some pre-qualifying, I could see that home within the hour!
  • I've asked 30+ people and only 2 said they knew it was possible to see homes are your convenience. Isn't that what the phone number is for on the sign? I never considered that, and I'm not in the minority!
  
• They also shared the challenge of not being tied into that agent trying to solicit their business.
• Many also didn't realize a Buyer's Agent isn't necessarily going to cost the buyer anything!
  
• Aren't all houses open "All Day, Everyday?" In a tight market like this, service separates the great agents from the struggling ones.
• How many homes does the average consumer see?
  How many homes would the consumer see if they had better pictures?
• How valuable are video walk-throughs?
• Is a "virtual tour" that takes the same 10 MLS photos and makes it seem like a video effective?
• Educate the buyers about Buyer's Agents? Who's going to do that?

We're trying to make a web-site that is easy for consumers to understand. Use the Paragon screen as a benchmark in that it makes one dizzy to see it with all that information to search for a house with. And compare the ease of use and number of key strokes at the two biggest websites in Omaha, NPDodge.com (Great Website) and CBSHome.com. (Great website!) Okay, also the other big ones in town seem to be PAOmaha.com, and Deebrealestate.com not to leave anybody out. Actually, PAOmaha is as simple as 4114Openhouses.com. If a person averages 7 seconds per web page, how many are going to spend time on a website with all those search criteria? Sure, there's a place for that but who is this designed for?

How many websites does a buyer have to visit in Omaha to get a game plan for checking out Open Houses?

On the other hand, "Buyers are Liars" is what I'm hearing from the veterans. I'm a perfect case-in-point. We wanted a walk-out in West Omaha and ended up buying a great place in Nort Omaha without a walk-out. If I'd looked only for walk-outs I'd never seen this property.

So, here's the question: In order of priority, and prevalence, what do Consumers search for? I mean really, a range of square footage? Year built?

So, do a search by price and areas and have a result for 22 homes? Or do you want search results to come up with 2? Isn't that enough scrutiny? And if you search in some areas, isn't the price, year built, etc. implied? A picture's worth a thousand words...

We ask for: Price, Bed, Bath and Geographic area. We love the fireplace and wanted a walk-out but ended up with a hot-tub and are on a park! (These pictures are not what MLS provided. I put these up there on our site only.) And the only way we knew it was that great was with the map interface. And then when it came time to involve our Buyer's Agent, he showed us two homes and we'd been looking for homes online for 6 months!

Was our purchase impulsive or did we know about what we wanted before taking the agent out with us? The latter is true. Sure, we didn't get what we THOUGHT we wanted but who does? How often do you sell the house you're sitting in at a Hosted Open House to the people that stop by? "If you like some of these features but not this home, I can help you find what you want." I'm not in the sales side but that's what they told me over and over and over and over...

Microsoft has Bird's Eye View almost anywhere in town and we have it seamlessly integrated in our beta version. Check out what it's like to search for homes when you not only have a virtual tour inside, but can see the neighborhood! "We can live on a park? Who cares about a basement walkout when you can go out and be in a park?"

Google has "Street View" that's growing in coverage all the time.This one didn't have that but imagine what it would be like seeing the neighborhood like this?

A picture's worth a thousand words. And what if the house is backing up to a busy street? You can save gas and time seeing it with Bird's Eye view!

Enough said...