Real Estate Is Local. What About You?

There were the times when we lived and died in the same place. We knew it simply because all our lives we were there. Times have changed and now we may be here today and across the country tomorrow. There is much more homogeneity now, and you do not have trouble adapting to new places. You have same Fast Food restaurants, same grocery chains, same department stores, signs look very familiar, so we now live in the United States of America.

But Real Estate we practice is local… So, even though you will find the same McDonalds and Burger Kings everywhere, same Wal-Mart and CVS (or Walgreens, or similar) across the country, same Macy’s Department Stores, Home Depots, Blockbusters… there is something different with real estate.

House is a house in California and Florida. Basement or slab, it still will have a foundation, walls and roof. So where the differences come from?

Economic factors.

Absolutely. Demographics, unemployment rate, type of jobs in the area, level of compensation, minimum wages, all of that would affect prices, affordability, absorption …

But not only. It is also the history. It is in the name of your town, the name of your street, the people who lived and worked here… It is the feel of the area, of the neighborhood….

Market ‘slice’ is on the internet. You can Google and get all the information you want. Economics, forecasts, are also on the internet. But when it comes to the fine touches, the feel of neighborhoods and communities, the history and the future, here it is not that much the Internet; here it is us, agents, who can bring it to our customers.

People look at dollar signs when they are searching for homes, but agents can add to that the layer that only we can add. History, which adds the depth, and offers the human side.

Are we curious people? Do we know the place where we live and work?

Latest report shows that customers first look at properties, and then they want to learn about neighborhoods… beyond the price tags.

 *  Image is courtesy of Flickr.com under Creative Commons license