Property APIs Can Help Buyers And Sellers Involved In Renovated Properties

Property APIs can be a real asset when helping home buyers who are considering a fixer-upper.

With the abundance of all those “fix and flip” shows on TV, it seems like half the world is now looking for a fixer-upper.  In fact, according to one recent study, about 30% of buyers are willing to spend time and money renovating a home with flaws.

What a great thrill it is to take an old, worn down property and turn it into a suburban Taj Mahal.

Of course, experienced real estate professionals know, there’s TV land and then there’s reality.

Fixer-uppers can be very challenging.

As we all know, most of the time renovations cost more than anticipated, take longer than anticipated and encounter many unanticipated challenges (like starting to repair the drywall and finding mold or rusted, broken plumbing behind it, etc.).

Home buyers are treading dangerous waters. According to one study in Houzz, people spend on average about $34,000 on renovations after they buy a home.

Of course, there can be huge swings in those numbers. No agent wants to see their client continually dip deep down into their savings for repairs.

Property Data APIs help with decision-making

One way to help home buyers when they are considering a fixer-upper is to offer them information surrounding a property in general to help them justify the purchase…and know there is a silver lining with all that blood, sweat and tears.

With a Property Data API embedded on their website, an agent can point out all the positive attributes of a LOCATION…and the wiggle room it provides in terms of upgrading that property.

A Property Data API is basically a software program that lets an agent tap into a giant warehouse of hyper-local data acquired by national aggregators such as Home Junction.

Home Junction has developed numerous sources for information that is super-relevant to home buyers and owners.

The company then gathers all those millions of bits of data from those sources. It then filters, sorts and organizes the information into a feed than can be installed on an agent’s website.

That agent can choose just the information for the neighborhoods they are farming. What’s great about Home Junction’s Property API is that the data can be pared to not just the zip code or city level, but all the way down to a specific neighborhood or subdivision.

Real estate data API provides hyper-local facts

That information includes:

• Recent Property Sales
• Trends in Home Prices
• Charts on Market Conditions
• School boundaries
• School information
• Municipal Boundaries
• Neighborhood demographics
• Neighborhood amenities
• Transportation hubs
• Cost of Living indices
• Crime Ratings
• Home Estimator Tools
• Market data on how a property compares to others in their market in terms of Square Footage, Price, Age and Price per Square Foot.

This is extremely valuable information every home buyer needs to know. This is especially true for a buyer who is not only about to sign up for a sizable home loan, but is also about to plunk down a significant amount of money to restore that property.

Even with spending tens of thousands of dollars on a home, perhaps market data will show there is still a big cushion for return on investment compared to homes of similar size in that market.

Use the data to help owners of sub-par properties

Conversely, an agent might have a homeowner as a potential client who is about to list a less-than-ready property, for whatever reason.

Again, with access to that valuable local real estate market data, an agent can let a homeowner know there is real value in their property and its location, even if the rugs are stained, the kitchen is outdated and the bathtub in the guest bedroom has sunk into the crawlspace.

The agent can prevent that homeowner from leaving money on the table.

Much of the repairs for a home can seem nebulous at times. Uncertain. Who really knows the extent of the damage? Even contractors will tell you they don’t really know until they start digging into the issues.

But a Property API provides hard data. Facts.

That data can be reassuring.

Thanks to TV, fixer-uppers are the hot thing right now. Many people have ventured into fantasyland thinking they can be the ones to salvage a house and transform it into a dream home.

But sometimes dreams can become nightmares.

An agent with a large databank of local market information from a Property API on their website can bring their clients back to earth and give them a better understanding of the facts affecting any rehabbed property.