Property Data API Makes A Home Unique When There Are Plenty Of Homes For Sale
A Property Data API can be a critical tool in high inventory markets when it comes to one of the most persuasive techniques available in an agent’s tool box.
That technique: scarcity.
Wait a minute, you might say. Now that the bloom is slightly off the rose in real estate markets, scarcity of homes for sale may not be a major issue.
According to the National Association of Realtors, their “Pending Home Sales Index,” a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, decreased 1.0 percent to 101.9 in February, down from 102.9 in January. Year-over-year contract signings declined 4.9 percent. That’s the fourteenth straight month of annual decreases.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said, “In January, pending contracts were up close to 5 percent, so this month’s 1 percent drop is not a significant concern,” he said. “As a whole, these numbers indicate that a cyclical low in sales is in the past but activity is not matching the frenzied pace of last spring.”
Property Data API creates a unique picture for each home
So how could scarcity possibly be a factor at a time when inventories are increasing?
Because an agent can use a Property Data API to make a home appear super-unique in a marketplace.
They can do that with some of the information provided by a Property Data API ( snippets of software to provide a data feed) supplied by national data aggregators such as Home Junction:
Here are some examples:
School Attendance Zones – sure, there might be plenty of homes out there for sale. But how many of them are located in the same area as the best schools in the district? That immediately creates a sense of scarcity for parents.
Percentiles in the Market – sure there are plenty of homes for sale. But, an agent can dig down into their Property Data API for comparables to see how a home is positioned in a neighborhood.
For example, that home might be in the Top 10% in terms of square footage, or the lower 20% in terms of price per square foot.
Real Estate Sales and Pricing Trends – sure there might be plenty of homes for sale in a zip code. But with a Property Data API that feeds an agent data for specific neighborhoods, even subdivisions, an agent can show that home sales are still going up in one specific area, as well as prices, for XYZ neighborhood.
If a buyer wants to move there, they need to ignore the national market and grab this particular property in this particular neighborhood.
Market Comparisons – use a Property Data API to show buyers how one neighborhood compares to another. Perhaps there aren’t any homes for sale in Town A but if you look at the data for homes in Town B, they are very comparable in terms of pricing, number of owners versus renters and neighborhood demographics. All of a sudden, that sole property that is available in Town B is very desirable.
Neighborhood Amenities – sure, there might be a bunch of homes for sale in one 10 mile area. But, there are only a few homes for sales that are located near: A great food store such as Whole Foods. A park with a playground and hiking trails. Maybe a popular country club. If the property is near a train station, well, that’s practically a slam dunk right there.
An agent can use real estate mapping tools to illustrate all these amenities on a map alongside MLS listings. Maybe a property is not unique. Or, there are plenty of others in the same price range on the market.
However, that proximity to a great store, park, golf course, transportation hub, etc., will give that home instant, unique appeal. An agent needs the tools to show this properly.
Using all of these factors and others provided by hyper-local real estate market data, an agent can show that when a buyer takes a closer look at a property in relation to their needs and desires, there really aren’t that many homes that fit their criteria as they thought.
That’s when an agent has certainly done their job.
That’s also the picture sellers will love as you demonstrate how your Property Data API can market their home as a scarce offering in a crowded marketplace.