Real Estate Related Archives - Page 10 of 22

Real Estate Marketing Automation Helps You Generate Leads, Saves You Time and Keeps You in Front of Prospects. Why Aren’t You Using It?

June 26, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

Real estate marketing automation is an amazing tool for brokers and agents and frankly, if you are not using it, you could be missing out on several key rewards.

As most people know, one of the basic rules of sales and marketing is to keep in constant touch with your prospects.

“Consistent repetition yields results” is the mantra of one famous marketing expert.

McDonald’s spends millions running the same commercials over and over again. Proof that they don’t expect you to see a Big Mac on TV, jump out of your chair and drive down to their restaurant for a hamburger. It’s repeated exposure for top of mind awareness. So that when you do want a burger, you think of McDonalds.

Here are other problems with maintaining a consistent marketing campaign. Who’s got the time? And what content to include?

Real estate marketing automation is like a virtual assistant

Here’s the solution – real estate marketing automation. Real estate marketing automation is a game changer.

Take the ListingLeader real estate marketing automation program offered by Home Junction, a real estate data and technology company. Home Junction staff has decades of experience in the field of real estate marketing. They know the issues facing agents. Undoubtedly, consistent marketing is one of them.

Here’s the solution presented by Listing Leader. It’s a multi-faceted program that keeps you in front of prospects on a consistent basis…and does a whole lot more.

Let’s start with the email marketing.

Listing Leader has developed a program where all an agent has to do is subscribe, provide a photo, logo and upload their contacts.

That’s it!

Listing Leader then pulls local market area statistics, the agent’s personal listings, new Sold and new Actives into an attractive email format.

Homes sales going up in the area? A Market Summary included in the email, will share whether now is finally the time to buy or list a home for sale.

It gets better.

Included in the email blast is a link back to a web page, or “microsite”, that includes even more relevant market data.

Recent homes sales. Direction of home prices, etc. That’s huge. Those numbers are hard facts. Local real estate market data that can persuade a buyer or seller to take action. Every email also offers the recipient to check their home value.

It is the power of repetition!

In addition, Listing Leader has designed their marketing software so that all of this information is easily printable. All the design and content are already created for you.

Use the Print Report for marketing with the seller package, buyer package, take it to an open house. Or place that information in their brochure boxes.

It’s ready to go with the push of a button.

As consumers read all this important data and see events taking place in their neighborhood, at some point, many will be compelled to act.

When they do, as they say in “Ghostbusters”, “Who you gonna call?”

The agent sending them that valuable market data!

Back-end tracking offers incredible insight into active leads

It gets even better.

Since all of these marketing efforts are computerized and tracked, there is data generated by the activity of prospects opening those emails.

This is more than just how many people opened an email or maybe clicked on a link.

Much more.

With Listing Leader, an agent can view the activity of each individual on their email list.

For example, they might see Johnny Homeowner is repeatedly opening the email and repeatedly going to the microsite to check out market conditions. He clicks on several charts – recent home sales, the direction of home prices, etc.

He goes back again two days later. It sure is obvious. Johnny Homeowner’s status just moved from contact to “hot” prospect.

This guy has market interest and potentially market questions. It is time to give him a call. Offer him more information – Timing is everything in marketing.

That phone call when a prospect is actively seeking information, might just be the catalyst to start the listing process.

Real estate marketing automation makes social posts a breeze

Home Junction also knows that it can be difficult and time-consuming for agents to come up with social media posts on a regular basis.

That’s constant work, and it’s necessary. About 90% of agents say they use social media for marketing purposes. Social is not a choice in this day and age, it’s a necessity.

ListingLeader has the simplest real estate posting portal in the market today.

In the program’s dashboard, there’s a section for posting social media content. The interface will display several options for an agent to post – Just Sold properties, Just Listed, Open Houses, etc.

The agent’s social media accounts will be integrated with Listing Leader’s software.

All the agent has to do is to click on the content they want to go out, and bazinga, it’s posted on Social Media.

Hopefully, at this point a broker or agent is thinking, “Why wouldn’t I participate in this program?” Or, “This has got to cost a million bucks?”

Nope. Not even close. Home Junction purposefully made the program extremely affordable.

But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what one agent had to say:

“This is a great tool. It really is. I’ve been a very happy customer for over two years and ListingLeader has been my most important tool,” said Jim Marrs of Las Vegas. “I am very impressed with the high response from our clients and that has helped me understand the value because it creates the image of being here for my clients.”

Check it out. Right now, ListingLeader is offering a low introductory price.

You can easily sign up and quit at any time.

This is 2018. An era of big data and amazing technology. Stop wasting time. Realtors should integrate technology for top of mind awareness and let the most adoptable real estate marketing automation programs do the necessary marketing work for you – ListingLeader positioning agents as the GO TO EXPERTS!

Real Estate Market Data Helps Agents Support Buying A Home As An Investment

June 18, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

Real estate market data can help agents show the value of investing in a house, similar to how people evaluate a stock.

After all, a home is an investment. And anytime you do research on an investment, you need data. Statistics. Hard facts.

Not feelings.

This is especially true with today’s market conditions of low inventories. Buyers are really stretching their budgets to get into a home, if they can find a property for sale at all.

Sure, as we all know, at the end of the day, purchasing a home is very emotional. People get turned on by the beautiful kitchen or the big spacious deck overlooking the tree-filled backyard. Maybe it’s the master bedroom with the giant walk-in closets.

But there’s also that money thing. A lot of it. Thirty to fifteen years worth of monthly payments or a big chunk of hard-earned cash.

Any information a broker or agent can supply to help buyers evaluate a home as an investment is going to be a huge benefit.

That’s where real estate data companies such as Home Junction can assist.

With “big data” technology capabilities today, real estate market data aggregators are able to gather thousands of data points about properties from several sources, including public records.

This would literally be impossible for any broker or agent to do. And impossible to keep all that data current as well.

But the aggregators have that information. They can take all that data and easily peel off the hyper-local datasets that an agent wants to embed on their website for the neighborhoods they are targeting.

Real estate market data is like stock market financials

When you evaluate a stock, you need the financials. Stock price. Stock price history. Market capitalization. Revenue. Expenses. Etc.

What’s the stock price been doing these past few years? What about these past few months?

How does it compare to the stock prices of other companies in the same sector?

When you evaluate a house, you need the financials as well.

This is where real estate market data can be a tremendous help.

Using a piece of software called a Real Estate Data API (Application Programming Interface), an agent can show those financials right alongside their listings.

For example, that information can include:

Market Trends – what has been the direction of this particular market for the past several quarters?
Sales Activity – how many homes were sold?
Price Trends – where have prices been going? Up? Down? Big swings or small swings?
Details About Homes That Were Sold – including average price, median price. Etc.
Recent Sales – integrate this data with a map and show the location of properties that were sold recently. With the price include square footage plus the number of beds and baths.

Market data helps make apple to apple comparisons

When investors evaluate stocks, they also evaluate similar companies.

Just like comparables with home prices.

Home Junction makes it easy to compare homes and neighborhoods.

They also have data to show how a property ranks in a specific neighborhood.

For example, in what percentile does the home fall into for:

Total square footage – is the home bigger than say, 80% of other homes in the market?
Price – where does this home fit compared to other homes in the area?
Price per Square Foot – what about breaking the price down to square footage, a deeper way to compare properties?

As you can see, this is powerful information. This is the type of information, financials we can call them, that truly give home buyers a fact-based perspective on the investment they are about to make in a property.

Yes, real estate market data is available now on the mega-real estate portal websites.

In that case, when a consumer visits those sites, they are also led to choose certain agents. Those agents pay for those leads.

But why let the big portal websites attract those valuable buyers when a broker or agent can now offer the same real estate market data on their own websites?

Not only provide data. But agents can also use this valuable market information for their posts on social media to attract buyers. Or they can use this information in their direct mail sales letters to attract sellers.

These are tough times for home buyers. Many of them, including that huge bubble of Millennials, are first-time home buyers. On the other hand, there are many homeowners out there who are seriously wondering, “Should I be putting my home on the market?”

Market yourself as the true local resource for these people. Show them you have the data.

Cover the angle of buying a property as an investment. It’s an important one.

Any agent who supplies that type of in-depth real estate market data is going to be a real asset to both buyers and sellers.

Real Estate Data Companies Can Add Valuable Market Info To Open House Brochures

June 12, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

open house public real estate data Real estate data companies such as Home Junction can give your materials for open houses and brochure boxes extra impact with buyers (and potential sellers).

The open house – that age-old practice that agents still need to do on Sundays and in many cases, despite all the high-tech gadgetry out there, is still a very effective strategy to generate sales and listings. So is that little brochure box attached to your real estate signs.

Open house strategies include the essentials – de-cluttering the home, painting the home and depersonalizing the home by removing all those family photos and clown pictures from the walls.

Oh, and don’t forget to get the dog out of the house, and his dog dish and toys.

But one very important feature is the importance of appealing marketing materials.

Let’s face it. People like free stuff. They like takeaways they can browse later. If they are visiting multiple homes, they certainly will like a brochure to help them remember details about the house they visited.

Glancing at a sheet of paper is still easier than digging up that info on your phone, tablet or laptop.

As far as marketing, that printed piece can be very impactful in persuading buyers this is the home for them (or sellers you are the agent they want to list their home with when they are ready).

Sure, an agent might spend a bunch of time and energy preparing a property for an open house. It is a lot of work. There are plenty of items to cover – making sure the lawn is mowed, doors open and close properly, the house looks good from the curb and when a person walks in the front door

But an agent should also pay attention to preparing that brochure.

Real estate data companies provide the numbers to support a property

Because after the visitors leave, that brochure is the next item that will help them in their decision-making.

Be sure to include ALL the important features of the property. Sure, you need the square footage, age, price, etc.

And you need to point out the amenities – a pool, mother-in-law apartment, etc.

Also, don’t scrimp on the photographs. Be sure those photos of the property really pop on that brochure. As we know in this era of Instagram and Snapchat – consumers are image-oriented. Those images will have just as much impact as the text.

But why not go even further.

Be sure to add property data that can be easily acquired by real estate data companies such as Home Junction.

For example, show a chart indicating market trends for that neighborhood.

Perhaps home sales are turning upward and your chart shows a hockey-stick trend line heading higher. Could be just the catalyst to push a buyer to act quickly.

Or, maybe home prices are increasing. Again, a prompt that now is the time to grab this property.

Another use of property data would be to show how this home is priced compared to others in the market. Perhaps it’s below the average per square foot or even if it is at the average, it assures visitors this property is not excessively priced.

Neighborhood data is a powerful persuader

Highlight the pros of not just the house, but the neighborhood too.

What about neighborhood amenities?

School are always important. Real estate data companies such as Home Junction can supply agents with fully-detailed school data.

School locations
Enrollment
Student/teacher ratios
Demographics
School rankings

And much more.

How about neighborhood demographics?

Perhaps this neighborhood tends to skew younger in age. With lots of children.

Mom and dad buyers are going to be interested in that.

Here’s another very important feature where property data can be a huge influence in securing a deal.

Home Junction offers geo-spatial map plugins that allow agents to integrate maps with their listings.

Perhaps this business is close to a great golf course. Or maybe it’s near a very chic shopping area with the best yoga studio in town.

Show off those location amenities!

(This writer remembers when he purchased a home and later found out an enormous park was located just three miles down the road, off the main highway. If he knew that sooner, he would have made an offer quicker, and probably a higher offer at that.)

Use market data to impress potential sellers

Here’s another benefit from open houses and those brochures boxes.

Not every visitor is a potential buyer.

Many are people who live on the street or in the same neighborhood and are curious as to how their neighbor is selling their home (or many of them might have the extra cash to invest in a second-home).

A detailed brochure with in-depth property data is going to impress them as well. When they see the lengths this agent goes to marketing a property and how they cover ALL the angles, that is going to stay in their find when they decide to sell.

Open houses are still effective.

But in this day and age of easily accessible big data, offering detailed, in-depth property data is one of the newer and more effective value-plus strategies EVERY agent should include with an open house.

Real estate data companies such as Home Junction can easily supply you with all that relevant market data to show you are truly the agent with local knowledge and go the extra mile to promote a property.

Real Estate WordPress Plugins Add Much-Needed Visual Impact To Agent’s Website

June 2, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

Real estate WordPress plugins can give an agent’s website a tremendous visual boost with image galleries, charts and maps.

Why is this important?

According to a recent study of visitors to agent websites, 60% of those surveyed said they spend most of their time looking at the image of a home than the description text.

Another study showed that articles with images generated 94% more views. That’s nearly twice as many views as those without images.

Let’s face it.

We live in a visual age. The result of digital living.

Guess why Instagram and Snapchat are some of the most popular websites in the world?

Because they are all image-focused.

That’s not to say the Facebook is not visually-focused. Take a look at a Facebook page and it’s all images and very little writing. Another report found that Facebook posts with photos get 37% more engagement.

Twitter – another immensely popular website – is not known for its long diatribes of text, but for getting your point across with 150 characters or less.

And on Twitter, it’s mostly images. If you don’t include an image in your post, then your post looks like an afterthought, wedged between a constant stream of photos and artwork.

Real estate WordPress plugins are instant sources of images

Sometimes it easier to create words than it is to find or create images.

After all, all you have to do is sit at the keyboard inside your office and start typing.

But as we said, in today’s day and age, people aren’t textual oriented.

Fortunately, when it comes to visuals, WordPress is a great platform.

What? You don’t have a WordPress real estate website?

Uh oh. Then you are missing out. WordPress is so popular as a website platform, it has captured about 30% of the world market.

The website is one of the easiest content management systems on the planet meaning it’s easy to add pages, blogs, text, images, whatever.

WordPress is also coded to be one of the most search-friendly websites in the world. So it gives brokers and agents an advantage when it comes to appearing on Page 1 on Google or Bing for targeted keyword searches.

We won’t get into those details in this blog.

What we will talk about is the other tremendous advantage of WordPress – plugins, specifically real estate WordPress plugins.

And how those real estate WordPress plugins can instantly give your website powerful visuals.

There are now more than 50,000 plugins available on WordPress. This is one of the big factors that made WordPress so popular. Basically, a plugin is like an app on an iPhone or a smartphone. We know how powerful those apps have been in making smartphones the most popular machines in the world.

Plugins that make it easy to grasp data quickly

Now, let’s talk specifically about real estate WordPress plugins.

Home Junction provides real estate WordPress websites for brokers and agents.

But the company has also developed its own line of popular real estate WordPress plugins.

Take real estate market data for example.

real estate data charts

When you add the Home Junction real estate WordPress plugin for sales data, you can add charts to your website showing real estate market data trends in your area.

For example, you can show a chart illustrating the Number of Sales by quarter. A visitor to the website can also tailor that search to the type of property they are searching for, whether it’s a home, condominium, townhome, etc.

This next function is critical.

Home Junction is a national data aggregator that gathers data in more than 1,000 categories. They include parcel size, square footage, recent home sales, municipal boundaries, school enrollment, etc. Really deep, in-depth property and neighborhood information.

So if a visitor is looking for market trends in the area, they are not just limited to sales activity in the county, but can drill down to the city, zip code or even neighborhood level.

This is a tremendous asset for an agent who wants to farm a particular neighborhood. Displaying this breakdown of data per neighborhood really makes that agent the agent with the most hyper-local knowledge.

Geo-spatial map plugins

real estate wordpress websites

Here’s another powerful real estate WordPress plugin offered by Home Junction.

It’s called SpatialMatch.

With this plugin, an agent is able to add maps for the neighborhoods they are farming.

Maps you might say? So what? Anybody can add a map to their website (sort of).

It gets better.

With this Home Junction real estate WordPress plugin, the map is integrated with the local MLS database.

The agent can display homes for sale from MLS on the geo-spatial map.

There’s more.

That geo-spatial map is also integrated with several other databases.

Take boundaries for example.

On the map, visitors can see the boundaries near a property.

That includes:

School district boundaries (very important for parents)

School attendance zones (super important for parents because it shows the actual schools their children might be attending)

Municipal boundaries (very important in terms of taxes).

Here’s another database that is included in the SpatialMatch real estate WordPress plugin – local businesses.

As brokers and agents know, neighborhoods can sell a property for them.

If Mrs. Stretch loves yoga, you can point out the local yoga studio that is just a mile away from a property.

If Mr. Teetime is your prospect, don’t tell them where the local golf courses are located, show them how close they are with your geo-spatial real estate WordPress plugin.

Neighborhood demographics charts

neighborhood demographics

\There are other real estate WordPress plugins with eye-appealing impact that can also influence and impress a visitor to an agent’s website.

Home Junction also offers WordPress plugins with demographic data.

That data can be displayed in charts:

Neighborhood demographics such as an overall profile of who lives in a particular neighborhood – their education, income and ages.

The Cost of Living for that particular neighborhood as well. Are prices higher or lower than the national average?

Compare the cost of living from one area to another.

With just a quick glance, a visitor to an agent’s website can see if they feel that neighborhood is a good match for them.

For a family with young children, they will want to see charts displaying a neighborhood with other young children.

For older folks, maybe they prefer a neighborhood where most of the people are their age.

All of these graphical elements are not just to impress buyers either.

Imagine you are pitching a person with a $2 million home to be their listing agent.

Imagine the impact you will have when you show them all those visual charts indicating how you are going to market their property.

It’s not just talk. It’s real research. Real estate market data presented in a very powerful manner.

As we said, plugins are one of the big reasons for the success of WordPress.

Take advantage of this technology and add real estate WordPress plugins to your website.

But be sure you get those plugins from reliable developers such as Home Junction. Poorly coded plugins or plugins that are not updated can actually be harmful to a website.

And be sure to go for eye-appeal. Adding a few simple real estate WordPress plugins can make your website a visual wonderland of important images that will have an impact on both buyers and sellers.

WordPress Plugins For Real Estate Can Help You Plug How Parks Increase Home Values

May 26, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

Here’s a WordPress plugin for real estate that displays neighborhood amenities such as parks. Research shows that being located near a park increases the value and appeal of a property.

There are certain WordPress plugins for real estate that can help agents really make the point about the value of free neighborhood amenities such as parks.

Because here’s the point. Free public entities add value to a home and the marketing of a home.

That’s where parks come in. Big lawn-covered parks with hiking trails, picnic tables and grills. Small pocket parks with a few benches and shade trees. Specialty parks such as dog parks or public water parks. Huge recreational parks with baseball fields, soccer fields and tennis courts. State parks with huge forests and meandering rivers.

They all have appeal.

There’s an obvious reason for this.

Who doesn’t want to live close to a park?

Parks boost homes values and attract developers

There’s also statistical data to back this up.

In a recent study conducted by Home Logic with the National Association of Realtors, researchers looked at more than 16,000 home sales within 1,500 feet of public parks in Portland, Oregon.

They discovered homes prices were higher by 8% to 20% on average.

Portland city officials are smart in that way – because the city has about 200 parks. Something perhaps other cities should look at as well. Higher home values also mean higher tax valuations and revenue (in addition to all the other positives such as happy citizens, healthier residents and cleaner air.)

The researchers also discovered homes near Natural Areas were on average, $10,000 higher in value.

Golf course nearby? That will increase the value of a home by $8,000.

Special types of parks, for example, a dog park nearby. That will mean on average about a $5500 boost in value.

Urban parks? Add another $1,000.

You can be certain the homes on Central Park in New York are much more expensive than homes just a block away.

Speaking of New York, according to another study, the new High Line park that was built on 1.4 miles of old abandoned railroad tracks, has generated a 103% increase in property valuations in an eight-year span. Not only that, but the park has spurned an estimated $2 billion in development nearby as well.

In Miami, where the Underline park is in the final planning stages, property prices nearby have already increased by 25% and so have plans for $200 million in new residential construction. And that park hasn’t even been built yet.

Which reminds this writer of an experience he had that to this day surprises him. After purchasing a home, he discovered there was an immense public park just three miles away, just off the main highway.

That park turned out to be the LARGEST park in the county covering 65 acres surrounded by 470 acres of wetlands and filled with hiking and mountain biking trails. Not to mention several soccer, football and baseball fields. Plus tennis courts. And a playground.

If this writer knew about that park, he would have made an offer on the home sooner. And for more money.

WordPress plugins for real estate best illustrate the value

When it comes to using other factors to help influence home prices and elicit offers, parks are a no-brainer.

However, it’s important that agents clearly illustrate these parks and other amenities.

That’s where WordPress plugins for real estate can play a huge part.

For example, Home Junction offers a geo-spatial plugin for real estate.

They developed IDX software that integrates a map with MLS listings.

So, when an agent points out properties on the map, they can also point out the parks and other amenities within a designated distance.

There are also Points of Interest WordPress plugins for real estate that illustrate amenities in a linear text format. That is effective as well.

Here’s the point.

Parks sell homes.

An agent wants to be sure they are maximizing this asset.

With WordPress plugins for real estate from real estate data companies such as Home Junction, an agent can display this valuable asset in several ways.

First, these plugins are plugged into an agent’s website. There is no need to send a web visitor or prospect off into the webisphere the find this information for themselves (and perhaps, end up on another agent’s website).

Secondly, adding that information to a website helps with rankings on Google and Bing when people search for parks and local information in the area.

Third, an agent can include those links to those maps and lists in their email blasts to prospects.

Fourth, an agent can also include those links and use those amenities when they post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Need ideas for posts? Here you go. A ton of hyper-local data.

(And you’ll need it too because a recent survey conducted by Realtor.com found that more than 90% of agents say they plan to promote themselves on social media.)

Use plugins to make superior listing presentations

Conversely, imagine using all those WordPress real estate plugins for websites to attract and impress home sellers.

You can demonstrate how you are not the type of agent who just might casually mention there’s a park down the street.

You are going to use these neighborhood data tools to really drive home the proximity of that park and the benefits as far as retaining or increasing the value of a home.

That will impress sellers.

Sure, there are a lot of variables floating around the minds of home buyers today. The size of the home. The number of bedrooms. Is the kitchen nice? What about the backyard? Is the garage big enough? What are mortgage rates? What’s my credit score? What will my monthly payment be like? What about taxes?

Is children are involved, what about the local schools? That’s a BIG ISSUE. (Home Junction has WordPress plugins for real estate with school data as well. That data feed includes critical school information as far as locations, principals, number of students, teacher/student ratios, etc.).

You can also use property data from Home Junction to show the assessed value of homes near parks compared to other areas.

Don’t let all the other factors swirling around a buyer’s head cause them to overlook the value of neighborhood amenities such as parks. If you tell them about that great park down the street, they might forget it a second later.

Be sure to SHOW them instead.

Add these valuable WordPress plugins for real estate to promote these parks. Make it part of their overall package. Their take-home materials.

Because, when it comes down to it, with many other factors being equal, the location of a park nearby just might be the one factor that sways them in the direction you want them to go and pick your listing.

(Again, if a few agents are pitching to a homeowner for a listing, the way you illustrate those parks and other neighborhood amenities, might just be the determining factor to choose you as their agent).

Parks have been around for centuries.

But this is the 21st Century. There are amazing real estate market data tools out there for local agents, just like the big real estate portals.

WordPress is the leading content management system in the world. Developers have created thousands of plugins to help business people enhance their websites (just like apps turn cell phones into smartphones).

Specific geo-spatial WordPress plugins for real estate are one of those incredible tools.

Real Estate Data Companies Help You Use The Power of Comparison Shopping

May 21, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

real estate data companies

Real estate data companies are invaluable when it comes to utilizing one of the most valuable strategies for helping people make decisions – comparison shopping.

There are many popular websites that use the comparison shopping model: NextTag, PriceGrabber, Shopping.com, Best Buy, Target and even Google Shopping.

There are also websites such as Cnet.com that are famous for doing their One versus the Other comparisons and reviews, for example like an iPhone compared to a Samsung 9.

In those reviews, they will compare features that people understand: price, cameras, screen size, storage, batter life, operating software. (Even types of emjojis .)

For real estate professionals, there are real estate data companies such as Home Junction that can provide similar comparison shopping tools.

Those tools use a powerful property database to compare an entity that is super important to home buyers – neighborhoods.

This tool is a must. Consider the implications.

The thought-process and anxiety involved in purchasing a home is certainly harder than choosing which cellphone to buy.

Yet, there are a ton of websites and reviews of cell phones for consumers.

Real estate data companies provide comparison data

But what about home buyers? (And what about home sellers? We will get to that in a minute.)

Comparison tools can be just as helpful. And we’re certainly talking about a much larger transaction with a long-term time frame of 15-30 years of mortgage payments.

That’s why the truly savvy real estate pro will have this tool in their toolbox in the 21st century.

Because here’s an underlying truth about comparisons.

Nowadays, it’s very difficult for people to make decisions.

There are so many options available to them. There aren’t two cell phones to choose from. There are 10.

Even if you know which brand you like, there isn’t just one or two cell phones to pick from. There are several.

How many cars are there on the market? How many types of TV sets? Cans of soup? Salad dressings?

There are always way too many choices facing people today.

Consumers are overwhelmed. They need help making a decision.

Comparing one item to another is an extremely effective way to narrow down choices. Because comparing helps the human brain to gain a perspective on the value of the items they are considering.

Neighborhood data comparison tools

Same with neighborhoods. Take for example Mrs. Skeptical Home Shopper.

She once lived in Bellingham WA but is now considering a move to Bellevue WA for whatever purpose.

She knows Bellingham. Lived there for years.

She knows little about Bellevue. She’s heard all sorts of stories, mostly anecdotes from friends and family.

Real estate data companies such as Home Junction can provide neighborhood comparison tools where Mrs. Skeptical can look at the data for one neighborhood compared to another.

With this neighborhood comparison tool she can check the two areas for:

Population
Size of the Area
Male/Female Ratios
Average Age
Average Income
Average Home Value
Average Length of Residency
Number of Households
Crime Rates

That’s incredible data for her to review. It’s certainly much better and reliable information compared to what her neighbor, Mrs. Complainer, told her about Bellevue one day over the backyard fence.

Real estate data companies that have truly in-depth data, such as Home Junction which aggregates as many as 1,000 property and neighborhood data points, can go even deeper.

They can also provide data on Buying Power, Education, Weather and much more.

Perhaps Mrs. Skeptical Home Shopper is concerned about the cost of living in certain neighborhoods.

The comparison chart can show her, for example, that for apparel, education, health, food and other expenses, for what she pays for in Bellingham for $1,000, it will cost her $1,230 in Bellevue, or on average, 18% more.

neighborhood data

That’s going to send up a flag for her.

She might also notice that while it is more expensive to live in Bellevue, the crime rate is “Very Low” compared to an “Average” rating in Bellingham. Another point to consider if that is something she is concerned about.

Maybe she prefers a town with more college graduates, or older people or less expensive homes.

All the data is there to help her make a decision.

That’s incredibly useful in her reasoning process.

This neighborhood comparison tool also has tremendous marketing implications. Imagine sending out a mailer, email blast or social media post to potential buyers, “See how ABC neighborhood compares to XYZ neighborhood.”

With other real estate market data, a broker or agent can also provide reports such as: “How do home prices in ABC neighborhood compare to XYZ neighborhood?”

Or, “Here are the property sales market trends in ABC neighborhood compared to XYZ neighborhood?”

Frankly, the combinations are endless. So are the possibilities to be the true local expert on the neighborhoods you are farming.

Use comparison tools to attract listings

Comparison tools are also a smart strategy for attracting listings.

Now let’s flip the implications of neighborhood comparison tools over to the other side of the equation – home sellers.

What a great way to generate listings.

Imagine sending out a mailer offering to compare the number of homes sales in one neighborhood compared to the one next door.

Wow. Look how homes sales are booming over there. Mr. Homeowner might decide, “Hmmm. Maybe it’s time for me to list my home for sale.”

You can use this data not only to generate listing leads, but for those critical listing presentations.

Show Mr. Homeowner how you are going to market their home using your neighborhood comparison tool.

Maybe one neighborhood five miles up the road has gotten hot all of a sudden. For several reasons, now everybody wants to live there. Houses are moving fast.

Using your neighborhood comparison tools, you can show Mr. Homeowner how his neighborhood compares nicely to that neighborhood and in fact, has a few factors that are actually better.

With school data and boundary information provided by real estate data companies such as Home Junction, you can also point out how Mr. Homeowner’s property is in the same school attendance zone as the popular neighborhood.

Mr. Homeowner is going to be impressed.

Impressed with hard, statistical data instead of some anecdotal jibbity jab.

There’s a reason shopping comparison websites and features are popular – they are extremely effective.

You can use that same effective strategy on your website when you partner with real estate data companies such as Home Junction.

Home Sales Data By Zip Code And Other Relevant Info Helps Google Determine “Intent”

May 16, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

home sales data by zip code Adding homes sales data by zip code to your website could be very beneficial when dealing with a concept that Google experts call “intent.”

Now, every real estate broker and agent in America wants to rank high on Google for their company. When you do, in a way, it’s like hitting the lottery.

When your real estate website appears on Page One (which by the way, is one of the benefits of WordPress real estate websites), the phones ring. People visit your website. Fill out contact forms.

All for free.

Great right?

Okay, of course by now, you realize there are people out there who try to manipulate the search engines so their website ranks on Page One. It could be for anything – baby strollers, park benches, purple socks, you name it.

Google knows this. It’s a smart company.

How smart? Well, in May their company was valued at $729 billion with a “B” dollars. The stock price for their holding company, Alphabet, is about $1,000 per share.

Their search engine is their No. 1 product.

So obviously, they are going to devote quite a bit of resources to make sure that product delivers the best results it can.

Because here’s another interesting fact most people might not know about Google. They have more than 70,000 employees.

That’s a lot of brainy people working on the algorithms, quality and the standards for their search engine product.

Home sales data by zip code adds more property-related content

Now back to intent.

Used to be, when Google first started, if a visitor typed in the words “Hoboken Real Estate” in the search bar, the website that had those mentioned more often usually got pretty decent rankings.

Of course, there were many other factors in the Google formula besides just keywords.

But those were the early days, when they had a handful of data engineers on staff.

Now, they have quite a few more, tens of thousands of data engineers in fact, to make sure people searching on their website find what they are looking for.

After all, that other major search engine, Bing from Microsoft, is right on their heels continually fighting for market share.

So experts now say the geniuses at Google have devised formulas to anticipate what they refer to as “intent.” It’s a way to determine the broader goal of a person searching for answers.

How deep is the content on your website?

For example, when a visitor to Google types in the words, “Hoboken Real Estate,” Google’s algorithms search through their massive databases and figure out what could be the objective of someone typing in those words.

That person is probably interested in purchasing a home.

When Google evaluates a website, they also scan a page and check their indexes for websites that have content relevant to purchasing a home.

This is where home sales data by zip code plays a huge factor.

Because by adding homes sale data by zip code and other real estate market data to your website, your website will be filled with information that Google knows is important to a web visitor looking to purchase a home.

They know that visitor will be interested in home sale prices, market trends, sales data by zip code or in certain neighborhoods, historical data, school data, property attributes, and other factors.

As you can imagine, those Google engineers have dug even deeper. They also look at a factor experts refer to as “secondary intent.”

From its massive database on search history, Google apparently knows this type of visitor who searched for “Hoboken Real Estate” will also be interested in school attendance zones, neighborhood demographics, crime statistics and other related content.

Google will reward higher rankings to websites that have a vast array of in-depth content related to homes. On the other hand, Google won’t give much credence to websites that display what is referred to as “thin” content. Websites that do not offer visitors much information and might in fact, just be created to try and game Google.

That’s why in today’s day and age, it is important to use the advantages of data technology to add as much hyper-local content that you can on a real estate website.

You could go out and try to find all that data yourself. You could try to add all that data on your website (although some of it, you probably can’t because it’s proprietary). You could also try to update that data every week or every month. Quite an undertaking.

But why bother? As the saying goes, “Whose got time for that?”

There are aggregators out there now, such as Home Junction Inc., who with their real estate data API can easily embed widgets that will feed home sales data by zip code and other relevant data to your website.

Instead of just home listings, your website could also contain a ton of other relevant information:

Recent property sales
Trends in sales in a particular zip code, or even a neighborhood or subdivision
Property attributes of homes in a neighborhood
Square footage
Municipal boundaries
School data
School district boundaries
School enrollment numbers
Student/teacher ratios

And much more.

Moms searching for school data have a specific intent

Here’s another benefit of adding this type of local, neighborhood information.

Think about how your website addresses this concept of “intent.”

Say a mom goes on Google and starts searching for information about schools.

Why?

One definite “intent” could be that she is thinking of relocating to your town and wants to check out where the schools are located.

She is also going to want to know detailed information about the types of schools her children might attend.

Again, if you add real estate market data to your website, you are going to be meeting the “intent” of that searcher.

Here’s another example.

Say a home owner is getting ready to move and is interested to find out, “What is my home worth?”

A local real estate agent now has the ability to provide their own “Home Value Estimator Tool” (just like the big real estate portal that starts with a “Z”).

Rather than put a few words of text on your site, “Call me for a CMA estimate for what your home is worth” you can have a tool that lets the home owner check out some factors on their own. (Naturally, these are estimates and not formal CMAs.).

But, if you have a Home Value Estimator tool on your website and lots of people are using it, Google sees your website is doing a great job of answering search queries for “What is my home worth?”

Sure, many people using an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) will just be “lookey-lous” curious about the value of their home.

But a good number of those people will be checking out the estimated value of their homes because they are ready to list now, or in the very near future.

Search visibility anymore is a complex beast. As you can see by the number of engineers working at Google, they are checking the value of websites from many different angles.

Fake or phony content won’t cut it.

Adding supplemental and relevant data such as home sales data by zip code to your website will help establish in Google’s mind, that your website has highly relevant information that meets their requirements regarding this concept known as “intent.”

Home Junction Reaches Milestone Of 1,000 Real Estate Market Data Points To Make Agents A True Hyper-Local Resource

May 8, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

real estate market data milestone Home Junction has reached an impressive milestone with the ability to gather 1,000 points of local real estate market data that can transform agent websites into a tremendous resource for home buyers

Home Junction’s mission is to help local brokers and agents become the one-stop resource for home buyers and homeowners.

This hyper-local neighborhood and property information doesn’t require storage or servers or even difficult coding.

All brokers and agents need to do is embed a simple data widget that opens the door to a massive amount of in-depth local knowledge that consumers need and want.

Think about it. Hundreds of pieces of information, facts and statistics that are relevant to home buyers.

Detailed school data that parents need and want

That information includes School Data for example.

But it’s not just the name of the school and address.

It’s a deep dive into critical items that every mom and dad want to know.

School district boundaries – the school district where a property is located.
School attendance zones – the school that little Johnny or Mary would attend if they lived at a particular address (as you know, this is extremely critical to parents because school attendance zones can change like the tide).
School enrollment figures
School rankings
Student/teacher ratios
School demographics
And much more.

In-depth knowledge of local neighborhoods

Then there’s the property and neighborhood data.

Hundreds of real estate market data points about properties.

Parcels
Municipal boundaries
Tax assessments
Tax values
Property sales
Square footage
Age of the properties
Flood zone maps
Comparables
Recent home sales

A deep dive i real estate data charts nto every attribute of a neighborhood a person could imagine.

Okay, a broker or agent might say, that’s a lot of data.

But how do I present that data to visitors on my website?

Home Junction can also provide key visuals.

For example, where are home prices going? Up? Down?

A broker or agent can display a chart on their website showing the latest trends in home prices.

They can also show a chart for Recent Home Sales. Are people buying homes in that area? Are sales flat?

How about boundaries? The location of homes in the area for sale?

Powerful visuals.

Home Junction’s real estate map plugin.

The kind of real estate data that has a major impact on home buyers and sellers.

For one, it helps them make a decision quicker. If a buyer sees home prices in a market are rising quickly, they better act fast.

If a homeowner sees that homes in their neighborhood are selling like hotcakes, then maybe it’s time to list their home.

And remember, we’re not talking about county-level or city-level real estate market data. Not just zip codes either, where data can range all over the place.

We’re talking about property data that zeroes in on the characteristics of a particular neighborhood or subdivision.

Real estate market data gives agents something to entice prospects

This information also performs another function, a term that marketers call “top of mind.”

When consumers see a real estate agent has this information available on their web site, it establishes that agent in their mind as THE agent with ALL the local knowledge they need to make an informed decision.

This is not an agent just with a pretty logo, a nice photo and home listings.

This is an agent with a gigantic resource of local information that pertains to decisions concerning the largest transaction consumers will conduct in their lives.

Sure, mom is interested in buying a home. But she also wants to know about the local schools.

Where is she going to find that information?

On a major a real estate portal where she might end up giving her contact information to be sold to another agent?

Or will she find that information on your local website, where she will give YOU her contact information?

Home Junction has also melded ALL those data points into creating a reliable Home Value Estimator Tool, just like the big real estate portal that starts with the letter “Z.”

So when a homeowner starts thinking about listing their property and wants an estimate of “What is my home worth?” where are they going to go?

To that “Z” site on the other side of the country?

Or to your local website where you can also offer a Home Value Estimator Tool for the neighborhoods you are targeting and farming.

And where you can turn that homeowner looking at home values into a lead or follower.

All that real estate data also has tremendous implications for marketing and social media.

An agent can regularly send out posts, “See the latest real estate trends in ‘XYZ” markets” or “Click here for an estimate on what your home is worth!”

Powerful stuff.

In a recent press release issued by Home Junction, Ed Kim, Senior Vice President with the company said, “Our goal is to be able to provide brokers, agents, banks or other businesses with the ability to add this incredible amount of data to their own websites. They can truly become the entity with the most local knowledge.”

He added, “Home buyers want to know this detailed neighborhood information but don’t have the time and resources to find it on their own. Now a local real estate agent has the ability to provide it to them.”

Milestones are exciting. They indicate achievements that have never been accomplished before.

The first telephone call.

Man walking on the moon.

Being able to add hundreds of real estate market data points on a local agent’s website might not seem like that big of a deal.

But for those involved in the business of helping people make one of the BIGGEST DECISIONS in their lives, it is a big deal.

Take advantage of this new innovation in technology and add the power of hyper-local real estate market data to your own website.

You can read the full press release here.

Real Estate Sales Data Can Position You As The Best Agent To Choose In A Hot Market

May 1, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

Real estate sales data can get be a real differentiator when it comes to convincing buyers you are the right choice for them in a market where inventory is tight.

Sure, buying a home is a tough ordeal for anybody. It can be gut-wrenching for new home buyers. Even experienced home buyers will suffer agita when trying to decide on a home, especially when they have moved up in the marketplace and the homes are now in the high six-seven figures compared to the 100,000s when they first became homeowners.

Now, put all that anxiety into a situation where the market is hot, hot, hot, inventory is scarce and people are pricing homes in “you got to be kidding me” range.

Financial guru Dave Ramsey points out just how hot it is. According to Realtor.com, in February 2018 homes were selling 8% quicker than the same time last year. Homes are generally selling a week faster than last year. In that same period, the increase in listing prices jumped 10%.

That can be nerve-wracking for a first time home buyer. Frankly, this market can be aggravating for any buyer.

Real estate sales data makes you an expert

Ramsey recommends searching for the right agent who can negotiate an acceptable deal. A “neighborhood expert” so to speak.

Problem is, as he points out, many agents will claim to be the “neighborhood experts.” After all, there is no award for this type of expert or certification. Because it’s hard to close sales when inventory is low, Ramsey points out some agents will run to the other side of town and boast, “Sure, I’m very familiar with this market.”

Well, in this day and age, talk may be cheap, but with internet technology, it can be verified very quickly.

Don’t think for a second that people aren’t going to jump on their iPhones or their laptops to go peak behind the curtain at your website and just see how much of a neighborhood expert an agent really is.

They’ll check listings. They will check testimonials. They will, well, check everything.

Here’s where real estate sales data can make a big first impression.

Imagine if Mr. and Mrs. Scared Home Buyer really want to move into My Favorite Neighborhood.

Problem is, so do many other Mr. and Mrs. Home Buyers.

This is not going to be an easy decision for them, especially when the prices of homes in that desired area are really pushing the envelope.

One strategy an agent can use is to show the young couple the massive amount of hyper-local real estate sales data they have on their website about My Favorite Neighborhood.

Imagine how impressed they will be when you not only show them the few listings that are there, but also all the relevant information they need to make an informed decision.

home price trends

Hundreds of in-depth datasets are available

That detailed information could include:

School data – school rankings, enrollment figures, student/teacher ratios
School district boundaries
Recent home sales
Property sale trends
School attendance zones (as you know, these can move all over the place)
Demographics
Cost of living indices
Points of interest such as the Whole Foods only 1.5 miles from the neighborhood or the park down the street.

Certainly, this will be of interest to them as they consider this difficult decision.

Then there’s the whole idea of price. When prices are high, buyers will appreciate any help they can get to a)negotiate a reasonable price or b) justify the price they are going to have to pay

That’s where actual real estate sales data, not a few reassuring words, can be extremely helpful.

Add a Home Value Estimator Tool

For example, use a Home Value Estimator Tool.

Show the couple how the home compares to other properties in the area for these factors: total square footage; age of the house; price; price per square foot.

The algorithm will show comparisons in percentiles. So perhaps the data shows that this particular home is in the lower 30% for homes priced in that area. Hmmm, could be a bargain.

Or, maybe the computation reveals that this is one of the larger properties in the area – again, might be a deciding factor that helps a consumer make a choice.

Conversely, the agent can use this data to show sellers that perhaps they are priced out of the market, or not asking a reasonable price based on comparables.

The point is this. An agent can pretend to be a “neighborhood expert” or a savvy agent can offer to show all this data as proof that they are truly the agent who knows this neighborhood.

There’s hype and there are facts.

Home Junction’s real estate sales data provides a plethora of factual data that puts an agent in a better position to persuade home buyers they are the best choice to represent them.

Why You Need Real Estate Market Data On Your Website To Earn The Trust Of Millennials

April 21, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

real estate market data art Millennials are now the hottest home buying segment of the population and there are several reasons why adding real estate market data to your website is a necessity when dealing with this group.

First of all, hopefully, you are paying attention to the Millennial generation. That’s the huge bubble of consumers created in the 1980s to 2000 by that first huge bubble of consumers – the Baby Boomers.

This giant segment of consumers, estimated at 76 million strong, has now entered the home buying stage of their lives. It was a long journey to get there. For one, they lived through the Great Recession when the economy took a nosedive and they watched the price of their parents’ homes go downward as well.

But that was in 2008. The economy has recovered. Millennials are starting to make some money. They are tired of paying rent. Rents that continue to go up. They finally see the value of investing in a house. They know mortgage rates are low but they are noticing how they are starting to creep upward.

Research shows 80% of Millennials want to purchase a home. They make up 66% of new home buyers and more than a third of all home buyers in general. Many definitely plan to buy a home in the next five years.

How great is that?

Real estate professionals have to love the fact that a big part of the population is now eager to purchase a home.

It took a while to get there. Because this is a skeptical bunch.

This is also a wired bunch of consumers, that are digitally savvy.

That means they know they have the ability to use those little devices in their pockets to find the questions they want to be answered. They trust their own abilities, instead of relying on hype, or in this day and age, fake information.

For that reason, many facets of old marketing models don’t work with this group.

In fact, in a study titled “Engaging Millennials, Trust and Attention Survey” nearly 85% of Millennials say they don’t trust traditional advertising.

Uh oh. That means all those newspaper ads, direct mail pieces, and radio spots are not as appealing as they once were, at least to this audience.

Because Millennials are more interested in content than hype.

According to one study, Millennials are 84% more likely to look for and trust experts than ads.

And, since they have been wired since birth, they know how to find information and people with expertise on the web.

Whoa. That’s a tough crowd.

But the great thing about the digital age, especially for brokers and agents, is that it works both ways.

Sure, people today have incredible access to an abundance of knowledge through their iPads, laptops and smartphones.

But in this era of Big Data Technology, a local broker or agent has the ability to provide a tremendous amount of that reliable, trustworthy content directly to Millennials from their website.

(And frankly, one could argue that today, that Generation X before the Millennials is just as wired and even many Baby Boomers are the same way. After all, it was Boomers Like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates that made the digital age happen).

Real estate market data tech goes local

After all these advances with personal computers and smartphones, it took a while for big data technology to catch up. For one, the pipelines (broadband and wifi) to distribute that data had to be created

But today, brokers and agents can easily add a few snippets of code and tap into giant databases of local real estate market data and offer that critical content to Millennials themselves.

National data aggregators such as Home Junction have the ability to gather massive amounts of that real estate related content. They have the expertise to access public records, MLS listings, property sales data, US Census results and dozens of other sources.

Some of the records they can pull include:

Recent property sales
Characteristics about properties – eg square footage, number of beds, baths, etc.
School data – the number of students enrolled, number of teachers, student demographics
Area amenities, eg restaurants, parks, golf courses, etc.
Cost of living indices
Real estate demographic data, eg gathered from sources such as US Census data
And hundreds of other detailed datasets

Home Junction’s data developers created an API (Application Programming Interface) they call “Slipstream” to facilitate the transmission of this data from their massive national database to a local agent’s website.

These real estate data APIs or school data APIs “feed” a local agent in Anywhere USA hundreds of datasets about their particular market. That agent can decide where and how they want to display that data on their own website.

What does all this have to do with marketing to Millennials?

Plenty.

This is the arena where Millennials like to play. Finding their own answers to their questions.

If they want to know about Market Trends in an area, you want them to go to your website.

If they are thinking about starting a family and want to research schools, you want them to go your website.

If they are checking out crime statistics for a neighborhood, you want them to go to your website.

Remember, these people are buyers.

Data has tremendous appeal to Millennials

You don’t want them venturing all over the web looking for answers, perhaps visiting one of the large real estate portals, and letting some other agent capture that lead.

You want them on your website and you want to generate that lead for yourself.

Use the real estate market data on your website to promote your website as a resource for Millennials.

Don’t just post listings on your Facebook page or Twitter posts, but also promote real estate market data as well.

Show Millennials charts pointing out trends in home sales in different neighborhoods. Point out to them how home prices in one area of town are not moving as fast as other areas which might indicate a good buying opportunity.

(This is especially critical at the moment when home for sales are scarce, which naturally has occurred because guess what, this massive shift in Millennials regarding home ownership).

If you send out an email, send out valuable content to entice Millennials back to your website to learn more.

Even on your mailings, offer to create a custom presentation for Millennials with all the data they want to know for their particular needs – school data if they are starting a family, demographic data if they are interested in moving to a neighborhood where there are lots of professionals like themselves, cost of living information if they are concerned about expenses, and so on.

If you provide all of this data to Millennials, they will see you as an expert. The expert on the markets they are considering.

Because here’s another fantastic factor when dealing with Millennials: they also like to read user-generated content and reviews.

If you use your wealth of hyper-local real estate market data to impress them, Millennials will express their satisfaction in positive reviews on Google or Yelp. They will share your information on Facebook or Twitter with their friends. They will forward those emails to others.

Sure, marketing to Millennials might be hard. But if you do it right, it could be incredibly rewarding with referrals coming to you at the speed of an electron.

The game has changed. Technology has changed. Attitudes have changed. Marketing to prospects has changed. But, fortunately, some aspects of marketing, such as adding real estate market data to your website, have gotten easier.

Public Real Estate Data A Neccesity To Overcome Seller Concerns About Negative Perceptions

April 17, 2018/in Real Estate Related /by Bob Caston

Public real estate data can be a major selling point when it comes to talking to listing prospects about perceptions on “good” and “bad” neighborhoods.

Here’s an amusing story that illustrates the point.

One writer talked about how the city he lived in appeared on one of those lists as “Worst Places to Live in the US.” The reseseach said unemployment was high. There were quite a few crimes. Lots of abandoned stores and office buildings.

But then, one day, the writer came across another list of “Best Places to Live in the US.” Guess what? His city appeared at the top of the list. That’s because the methodology used in the study was based on highest median income per household and fastest increase in property values.

Funny story right?

But when an agent approaches a potential seller who lives in an area that might not have the greatest reputation, it’s not very funny.

That home seller is concerned. Worried about losing value on their home. Perhaps they need to relocate quickly because of a new job and might be dreading the idea of their home languishing on the market for months.

This is where public real estate data, on your website, can be a major, selling point and a major way to alleviate that seller’s fears.

With today “big data” capabilities, aggregators of public real estate data such as Home Junction, gather an incredible amount of hyper-local statistics.

Recent property sales, market trends, school data, cost of living indices, crime statistics, and much more.

In fact, Home Junction has more than 1,000 data points that they aggregate.

Public real estate data can change perceptions

Here’s the big advantage for real estate agents.

Using Home Junction’s proprietary “Slipstream” real estate data API (Application Programming Interface), an agent can add a widget on their website to tap into this giant warehouse of data.

Now comes the best part. That agent display that data down to the micro-level – not just the county or city level, but right down to the neighborhood or subdivision level.

When it comes to providing public real estate data, you can’t get any more hyper-local than that.

Here’s a potential strategy.

An agent can approach a homeowner and show them the public real estate data resources they provide on their website.

They can tell the homeowner: “You know Mr. and Mrs. Seller, according to my real estate market data, I can paint a very appealing picture to potential buyers for your property. (Oh, and by the way, I’m the only agent in this area with this wealth of public real estate data).”

For example, according to the data on my site:

School data – you live in a very appealing school district. From the school data on my website, I can show how there are top-ranked schools in your neighborhood. That information can include student/teacher ratios, number of students, student demographics and much more.

With my geospatial data, I can also point out the latest school attendance zones to illustrate how this property falls within the boundaries for these particular schools, including top-notch private schools and charter schools.

Rising Property Sales – here’s another key point. Sure, there might be some parts of the county that are depressed and not doing so well. But, in researching the public real estate data on my website, I will feature charts next to your listing showing how the number of home sales in your neighborhood is actually increasing.

I can point out to any potential buyers that not only is your home in a desirable neighborhood, but they better act fast if they want to grab a home here.

Home Value Estimator Tool – here’s more data the Seller will appreciate. An agent can add a Home Value Estimator Tool (AVM) on their website that will give a reliable estimate of what a particular property is worth. Included with that data, is a chart that compares a property to the market in general. The comparison will be based on Size of the Property, Price, Price per Square Foot and Age.

So, for example, the results might show that this particular home is in the upper percentile for square footage and age of the home, indicating this is a fairly new house and very large house compared to others in the area. That’s certainly a big plus as well.

Real estate maps – Mr. and Mrs. Seller not only will I provide a great array of positive data about your property, I can illustrate some of the key neighborhood amenities on a map in relation to the location of your home.

Take that Whole Foods store by the way. According to the map alongside your listing, it’s only 1.5 miles away. So is that great magnet school for the arts. There’s also a famous sushi restaurant over here and a very popular pilates studio right down the street.

And, let’s not forget that huge public park that is just 2 miles away.

How about access to roadways? According to the maps provided, this property is just two blocks away from the interstate. That’s huge when it comes to making a home appealing to commuters.

Paint a picture with real estate market data

Like an artist, with Home Junction’s public real estate data and geospatial technology, an agent can pull up a number of different data points to paint a very pretty picture of a home for sale.

That picture will be a huge relief to a homeowner.

It will also be a convincing argument to choose that agent – the agent who walks the talk and backs up their marketing with solid, reliable information that answers every concern a buyer might have.

After all, geography matters. So does reality.

We can see from the story above how perceptions can be twisted the wrong way.

Don’t let a misleading rap for an entire area cause problems for a specific property.

Provide this resource of accurate public real estate data to show owners how that information will help overcome any negative perceptions about their home and their neighborhood.