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Old Way/New Way Real Estate

By Margaret Hokkanen

Real Estate Agent with SurfTheTurf.com, Inc.

November 27, 2007 02:15 AM

Here are some thoughts by John about the buyers' needs and what he terms the Old Way and the New Way of addressing those needs. Some of these are a bit strong, but you'll get the idea.

Need	Old Way	New Way
You want to talk with an experienced agent about the market and the inventory of homes.	You walk into a real estate office. Much like a used car lot, the "floor" agent comes over to talk to you. You don't get to pick who you talk to, and you may end up with a rookie agent.	You stroll out onto the Internet. You visit a bunch of agents' web sites and get to read about the services they provide. Based on what you read and video you see, you call the agents you think are experienced.
You want to see some of the home inventory.	The random agent that you talk to runs a search on his/her computer. If the agent is effective at computer research, then you get good results. If not, you end up with few homes of interest.	Your agents' web site allows you to run your own searches, including value-added parameters to meet the needs of specific categories of buyers. You find exactly what you are looking for.
On your way home from work, you see a home for sale on a nearby street and call the agent you met for details on the home.	The agent looks up the home in the MLS and sees that it has a poor commision and tells you that the home doesn't meet your needs.	Your agent provides you with powerful real estate maps with which you can easily find the home of interest. If you call, the agent KNOWS you can easily get the information and tells you everything you want to know regardless of the commission.
You see a home of interest and want to know about the school district.	The agent guesses that the school about a mile away is the relevant school and that's what he/she tells you.	The agent pulls up the Homes-by-School-Boundaries map on his/her web site and (in seconds) tells you which boundaries the home appears to be located. But, realizing that the boundaries can change, the agent pulls up the school district phone number and confirms the location of the home.
You are want to invest sweat equity into a home that needs work.	The agent does some searches on the computer and comes up with an incomplete list of fixers.	You use sophisticated search tools to access the pre-sorted fixers that meet your price and other needs.
You just went to the inspection of the property and learned of problems that cause you real concern.	The agent tells you that you should go through with the deal, especially because you have deposited earnest money into escrow.	Your agent says that if the problems cannot be addressed through explanation/resolution, then you can cancel the deal and have all your monies returned to you.
The seller doesn't want to fulfill a contractual obligation in the purchase agreement.	Your agent calls the listing agent, but the listing agent beats up on your agent, and your agent advises you to drop the matter.	Your agent drafts a letter explaining the situation, the correctness of your position, and the remedy that you are seeking. After faxing over the latter and giving the listing agent some time to consider it, your agent calls to confirm that the matter will be addressed by the seller.
You mention that you want to investigate foreclosures as a purchasing option.	Your agent doesn't provide you with the information because it means that you might bid for a property at the courthouse and not purchase a property with the agent.	Your agent realizes that different needs fit different buyers and wants you to make the decision that is right for you, and wants you to refer him/her to family and friends. Consequently, your agent provides you with the trustee sales information on it.
You want to find homes that are underpriced for their neighborhood.	Your agent says that he/she can think of one or two but the request is a hard one.	Your agent creates statistical models for analyzing the home inventory and then runs automated computations every night. You get the desired list of statistically underpriced homes.
You want to see a home that just came on the market, but your agent is on an out-of-town vacation.	Your agent tells you that this is a much-needed vacation and that you need to wait until he/she gets back to town.	Your agent calls a teammate and the home preview is scheduled within a few hours. If you decide that you want to write an offer, the teammate assists and you know that your agent will be compensated for the transaction.