Isn't it interesting when the shoe is on the other foot?
Right now, I'm just starting to look at real estate in the Westchester area of Los Angeles, California. Why? Because our son, Brian, is an entering freshman at Loyola Marymount University. He'll live on campus the first year, or maybe first couple of years, and after that he may be "off campus".
Westchester is a great area of L.A. In fact, I lived there, directly across from the then main entrance of LMU in 1981-1982, when I taught at St. Bernard's High School in nearby Playa del Rey. It was my first year out of college and I could not wait to get to grad school, so I didn't linger long, but I did enjoy my time there and can attest to the fact that west L.A. and the coastal area near Playa del Rey, Marina del Rey, and Venice Beach is generally a great place to live.
So with our son commencing his studies there, I'm thinking, naturally, about real estate and whether or not we should consider buying a condo in a year or two.
And I'm finding that it's not all that easy to search by map in areas close to LMU.
When I input Westchester into Google, often I end up somewhere on the east coast. Not helpful. "LA" often lands me in Louisiana. Finally, I try neighboring Playa del Rey, only to realize I'm seeing places in New Mexico or Arizona.
What I really want, more than anything, is a "search by map" tool. Something like what I have on my website for clients, prospects, and lookie-lous like myself: https://idx.diversesolutions.com/search/154647/40 .
I googled for Realtors via the main website and via blogs, and mostly came up with search by parameters (rather than search by map).
I found myself feeling very frustrated.
What I really, really want to know is this: are there condos within a couple of miles of the school? If so, what do they cost?
Like many consumers, I don't want to waste anyone's time. I'm just doing a preliminary scan. And I'm realizing it's not so easy to find the info I want.
It makes me wonder: how frustrated are OUR potential clients, when they know what they want but can't easily find it online?
I may rework my sites for parents of college kids at Santa Clara University, San Jose State and Stanford.
After all, now I know how it feels!
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