Tough job, finding a home. And where the heck do you look to find out what's for sale out there?
Google "homes for sale in lkjflskdjflk" (not a real city, folks...) and you'll find a ton of links to "experts" who are in the know. Some from google maps, some from Redfin, Homes.com, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia. Then there are individual real estate company websites, and portals through individual agents. Wow... who knew it was so easy? My goodness - you can even find zestimates, where the computer all-knowingly knows the accurate price of a home... WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT IT, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"
This'll be a piece of cake. Who needs a realtor... I got everything I need right here, with maps and pictures, and driving instructions. Everything.
I like this one, I'll call the realtor..... RINGGG, RINGGG.... "Oh what? You haven't had that listed for TWO YEARS? Why is it on your site? .... no I'm not interested in signing up for anything from you!" Loser. What kind of a sucker do you take me for???
I'll try another one".... RINGG... "Oh what, it's sold? Why doesn't it say that here?"
"Hnnnn.... you say this isn't the real price, even??? You changed the price 4 months ago??? Why doesn't it say that on-line?"
It's a jungle out there and sorry to say, what you'll find on-line is not always accurate.
I got a call from Bob a few months ago. "Sally would you find out about this fantastic home for me? It's on-line..." It wasn't in the MLS (my local realtor site), except as an expired listing a year ago. I call the former agent. "Sorry, Sally... the seller has decided to not sell a year ago. What makes you think it's for sale?" The agent who had it posted as their lisiting had never even had this listing. He jacked it from another realtor, and was unethically using it to troll for buyers! (...Yeah, that's what I said... as long as you muttered a 7 letter word that rhymes with hassle!)
For grins, I decided to search one of my listings this morning. It's a 5 bedroom home that has a series of price reductions over the past few months. My first stop was Maps.Google.com. There it was, but $20K too high. Turns out Google had indexed this listing, NOT from my MLS listing, but from the virtual tour company, and HE did not have current information. That was a shocker.
Then I went to HomeValue.com - They had my 5 bedroom home listed as a 3 bedroom!
Then Redfin.com. It didn't even show up on their map! When I searched by MLS number, I got the wrong price - from MONTHS AGO.
Then Zillow.com. "Ah, here I'll get something accurate", I'm thinking. Their zestimate was $40 over my LIST price! Wow.
Then Realtor.com. They were actually accurate, although I directly update my information there, so it better be.
So what do you, as a buyer do? Find a Realtor you trust, and have them send you listings directly from their MLS. Most of us have the capability to send you the exact listings you are interested in, complete with pictures, google earth shots, street views... everything you want to know. AND IT WILL BE ACCURATE, BECAUSE IT IS STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE.
I even have a mobile app right on my website, which you can download to your iPhone, and have an accurate portal directly to MLS listings. www.SallyDunbar.com. It's cool. And accurate.
What experiences have you had with innaccurate on-line information about homes?
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