Internet Primary Research Tool for 90% of Buyers

Sharon Barron, President, and David R. WalkerSouthland Regional Association of Realtors®

Modern real estate consumers have the world at their fingers via the Internet, yet a new study stresses the importance of “lo-cal” search terms and websites. Despite access to a universe of information, consumers rely on real estate professionals more than ever to interpret the data and explain how it applies to a specific home purchase or sale.

Those were just two of the findings of a study of digital trends conducted jointly by Google and the National Association of Realtors.

Over the past decade,

the world in general and real estate in particular, has become increas-ingly digital. Real estate profession-als know that their customers are über-connected and informed.

Indeed, nine out of 10 homebuyers today rely on the Internet as one of their primary research sources, and 52 percent turn to the web as their first step.

In fact, real-estate related searches on Google.com have grown 253 percent over the past four years. Whether they were looking for an existing home, a newly constructed home, or an apartment, Google and N.A.R. uncovered trends and insights around digital media usage among home shoppers.

Some of the key findings include:• Buyers use specific tools during

different phases of the home search process. Buyers tend to rely on search engines and general websites when they begin their search, use maps more in the middle of the process, and engage mobile applications most toward the end of their search.

• Video and specifically YouTube

Commercial Day Jan. 23

Learn the Winning Traits of a Successful Commercial AgentThe third annual Commercial Day, set for Jan. 23, will focus on the special qualities brokers need to achieve success for their clients. The theme of the popular free event sponsored by First Citizens Bank, is “Traits of a Successful Commercial Agent.” Richard Bozzi, chair of the Commercial and Investment Committee that is organizing the event, urged brokers to regis-ter early.

The first two events were sold out with standing room only audiences. Mike Zugsmith, Chairman of NAI Capital and the event’s keynote speaker, will speak on “What makes a winner in today’s market.” Registration opens at 7:45 a.m. with the program starting at 8:30 am in the auditorium of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors, located in Van Nuys. Breakfast is sponsored by Income Property Lending and ACI Capital. Lunch will be served.

The event is free, but attendees must register to guarantee a seat. Email contact information with an RSVP to commercialday2013@srar.com. Com-mittee members pictured are, from left to right, Jerry Rosenfeld, Narendra Patel, Howard Fudenberg and Dennis Dishaw.

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Free Program Settles R.E. Disputes QuicklyParties to real estate transactions can settle disputes quickly and informally by using a unique and free Ombudsman service pro-vided by the Southland Regional Association of Realtors.Anyone in a real estate dispute with a member of the Association who has not yet or does not want to file an official complaint can take advantage of SRAR’s free program. An ombudsman will help resolve disputes in a time-lier and less formal fashion, which benefits all parties.

With the Ombudsman Program, individuals seeking assistance can expect to be contacted by their assigned ombudsman within two business days. The Ombudsman Program uses trained volunteers who will work with the parties from the start to the finish of a dispute. An ombudsman will contact the other party on the complainant’s behalf in an attempt to resolve the issue without the need to file a formal complaint.

The role of the ombudsman is not to take sides or determine who is in violation, but to facilitate proper communication among the disputing parties and find a resolution agreeable to all sides. They can respond to a wide variety of inquiries and complaints. In the event an issue proves to be too complex, a party can decide against using an ombudsman, or if the ombudsman is unable to facilitate a resolution of the dispute, any of the parties can file a formal complaint through SRAR’s Professional Standards Department. For more information, contact Michelle Gerhard, SRAR’s Professional Standards administrator, at 818-947-2226 or via email at michelleg@srar.com.

play a huge role in satisfying consum-ers information needs.

• Thirty-six percent utilize a mobile device to continue the search even as they are watching television.

• They may have access to the world, but when it comes to real estate the emphasis remains where it has always been — on what’s happening locally, in the specific neighborhoods where people want to live. The study found that “local” search terms and websites were

Sharon Barron2013 SRAR President

5

Search Engines Play a Critical Role in the Real Estate ZMOT

Home shoppers using search engines are actively engaged, raising their hands asking for more information or assistance.

Source: Google & Compete Home Shopper Study, 2011; Google & Compete New Home Shopper Study, 2012

Shoppers willperform

an average of11 searches

prior to taking actionon a real estate site

Home shoppers using

search engines are 9% more likely to take

an action on a real estate brand website than those who do not

search69% of home

shoppers who take action on a real estate

brand website begin their research with a local term,

i.e. “Houston homes for sale” on a search

engine

52% of actions on real estate brand site come directly from a

local search on a search engine

first-time buyers frequently searched terms like “FHA loan,” “home grants,” “home loan,” and “home-buyer as-sistance.” Last year, more than four

out of 10 first-time buyers purchased their homes with a Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgage.

• Both first-time and repeat buyers rely on Realtors in their home search. Multiple listing service websites and

Realtor.com were the top two websites used in recent

home searches. Realtor.com attracts an aver-age of more than 20 million unique visi-tors per month.

“Increasingly, on-line technologies are

driving offline behaviors,

and home-buying is no excep-tion,” said Patrick Gran-

dinetti, Google’s head

of real estate. “With 90 percent of homebuy-ers searching online during their homebuying process, the real estate industry is smart to target where these people look for and consume information.”

Technology may have transformed real estate, but rather than displacing real estate agents, the Internet is help-ing connect them faster with today’s homebuyers and sellersThe Southland Regional Association of Realtors® is one of the largest local trade associations in the nation with more than 9,000 members serving the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

very important for buyers. • The typical homebuyer takes three

months to buy, but engages an agents earlier — by the end of the third week — in the process.

• Home shoppers rely on agents and open houses to bring their online research into the real world. Finding an agent and agent-related searches on YouTube grew 46 percent year-over-year. YouTube has hundreds of thousands of agent-related videos.

• In their online search queries,

Today there is a new, empowered consumer generation that does its homework ahead of time …