If a home buyer wants an overall feeling of the real estate market in Sacramento, a buyer can go to Zillow and Trulia and look at homes that were maybe once for sale and quite possibly might still be for sale, but most likely are not. There is a lot of outdated information on those sites. In fairness, these websites try to keep up with the pace and now will delete listings that are 60 days old if they are not renewed, but some agents allow the sites to renew listings that are sold. Some agents, apparently, believe it or not, even post listings to CraigsList after they have closed escrow, as one home buyer in Davis brought to my attention last week.
As long as a buyer isn't desperately searching for homes for sale in Sacramento, those websites will provide an adequate, even if inaccurate, overview. Which tends to leave buyers feeling frustrated. I know because they call me all the time from those websites.
Zillow doesn't even publish my phone number. It publishes its own phone number that is forwarded to me. That means when I answer my phone in my bright cheery voice and say, "Hello, this is Elizabeth," I must repeat myself again when I hear the call prefaced with: "this is a customer call from Zillow.com."
If I'm standing in line at the popcorn stand at Tower Theatre when I receive a call forwarded to me by Zillow, people look at me funny, like I'm just repeating things to myself over and over, and you know what that means.
Read more about this in my professional blog today: The Best Place to Find Homes for Sale in Sacramento.
Comments(6)