Posts

Property Data API Can Make Your Brokerage More Data Literate

/in /by

property data API

A Property Data API is a necessity for any real estate firm that wants to compete in the 21st Century.

In case you haven’t noticed, we are living in the era of Big Data.

Multi-billion companies such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook have all become enormous entities in our lives because of data.

Google built a $136 billion behemoth with 97,000 employees based on their data gathering and analytic ability. “To Google” is an everyday part of our language.

Which begs the question?

How data literate are your agents?

How well are you incorporating data in your company’s offerings?

Are you providing all the data you can to your prospects and customers?

Research company Gartner says soon 80% of companies will have specific initiatives to overcome their employees’ data deficiencies by 2020.

Property Data API provides real estate market data

property data API

Sample charts from a Property Data API.

Now, when it comes to data, there are several varieties.

There is internal data that is gathered from your website visitors such as lead generation conversion rates, clicks, time on page, etc.

Then there is external data about your marketplace.

This is where a Property Data API comes in.

As we all know, a real estate agent is basically an information agent.

One very important aspect of their job is to know their marketplace.

Now, previously, a savvy agent might be able to recite some recent home sale prices or information about local schools.

But in this era of big data, is that enough?

With a Property Data API, supplied by national data aggregators such as Home Junction, a brokerage can tap into an enormous database of hyper-local real estate information.

They can parse that information down to not just real estate data by zip code, but by neighborhood or subdivision.

Data on home prices, number of sales, square footage, age of the property, school statistics, age and income of local residents, crime ratings, etc.

That information can then for packaged into charts showing trend lines.

Or formatted to show rankings. For example, one property might be in the top 20% in a neighborhood for square footage but in the bottom 30% for price per square foot and the middle 50% percentile for age of the property.

A Property Data API can be used to provide home value estimates, based on recent sales, MLS listings, and other relevant data. (As we all know, homeowners love to see reports on the estimated value of their property. Which as you also know, creates a great lead generation opportunity for a formal CMA request).

The key is communicating the data

There’s more to data than just numbers.

This is where data literacy comes in.

First of all, one skill involves finding data. And that involves finding data that is trustworthy, accurate, relevant and timely.

Fortunately, there are data aggregators such as Home Junction that already fulfill this role.

With a Property Data API, a brokerage can add a feed that will supply them with a warehouse of hyper-local real estate market data. On the brokerage’s website, where they can promote their brand, capture leads and make the phones ring.

Then, it’s not only important to provide data to customers. It’s also important to be able to communicate about what those numbers mean.

Interpret the data for home buyers or potential sellers. Explain the trends to them. Write about the data on your blogs, you email updates or in your social media posts.

Present actionable insights. Point out the opportunities.

Perhaps the data is showing that historically for this particular neighborhood, this is a great time to make an offer on a property.

Or perhaps, this is not the best time to put that home up for sale.

This data can be extremely influential on the decision-making process of consumers. The more in-depth data you can show a prospect, the easier it will be for them to make a decision.

In addition, the more in-depth data (and analysis) you provide to clients, the more convinced they will be that this brokerage firm is truly the company with the most local knowledge.

That perception can go very far for referrals and repeat business.

One expert said that Data Literacy in the 21st century is what Basic Literacy was in the past century.

To advance themselves, as they moved from farm-based economies to an industrialized society, humans had to learn to read and write.

Now that we live in an information age, where a phone in your pocket gives you access to a gazillion bits of data, data literacy will be an essential skill.

Don’t be left behind.

Add tools such as a Property Data API from a national, experienced data aggregator and be sure your staff has the data literacy skills to present, analyze and interpret all that data for the benefit of your customers.

 

 

 

 

 

Real Estate Market Data Helps Agents Demonstrate Their Negotiating Abilities

/in /by

real estate market data negotiatingReal estate market data when making a listing presentation can help influence a seller in a number of ways including one BIG factor that could be the tipping point.

That factor? Your ability to negotiate for the top price for their home.

Sure there are lots of variables that go into a home sale – location, condition of the property, size, the market, available inventory, age, amenities, size, kitchen, bathrooms, etc. etc. etc.

But as we all know, at the end of the day, one of the biggest factors that will dominate the conversation will be price.

What’s my listing price?

What’s my home really worth?

How much should I be willing to compromise?

Lots of unknowns.

As CP Scott once said, “Comments are free, but facts are sacred.”

When making a presentation to potential listing clients, real estate market data, the hard facts, removes many of those unknowns.

By providing several pieces of hyper-local real estate research in addition to a CMA, an agent can start to paint a clearer picture of where any property stands.

And just as importantly, they can demonstrate how they will defend that pricing strategy.

This will impress homeowners.

Real estate market data from one source

Now, an agent can go out and try to find all those hyper-local statistics. And they can attempt to keep them updated every month.

But why do all that when there is a better solution?

Use a real estate market data API (Application Programming Interface) for a data feed from a seasoned data aggregator and technology company such as Home Junction Inc.

We’re not talking about bits and pieces of hyper-local real estate market data. We’re talking about hundreds of different datasets. All custom-tailored to each individual agent’s local market coverage.

real estate data API

Charts provided by Real Estate Data API

For example, when presenting to a potential sellers show them:

  • Charts on Recent Homes Sales in their market
  • Charts on Trends in Home Prices in their area.
  • Charts on Comparable Markets nearby.
  • Home Valuation Estimates
  • Market Position – where does that property rank for Square Footage, Sales Price, Price per Square Foot and Age. (For example, the homeowner’s property might be in the top 20% of their neighborhood for square footage. Certainly an asset to promote).
  • Available of Inventory in their neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods (Home Junction doesn’t just provide real estate market data by zip code, but down to the neighborhood and subdivision level as well).

All that data will be important in responding to the inevitable lowball offers. Or even offers below the homeowners target price.

School and neighborhood data

Home Junction can provide other data as well that could influence pricing in the mind of buyers.

That information includes School Data. Schools are super important to families and even non-families. People know a good school district is golden when it comes to the value of properties in that area.

School Attendance Zones are another important factor. These zones show which school a child will attend based on their address. Attendance zones are different for different grade levels – elementary, middle and high school.

They frequently change, due to enrollment, etc.

Then there are Municipal Boundaries. Showing a property located within city limits will mean higher taxes.

Who lives where? Home Junction also provides Neighborhood Demographics to give buyers a sense of the people who live in a neighborhood. Are they older? Younger? Highly educated?

Crime Ratings naturally are also an important consideration.

How about the cost of living? One town might be more desirable than another, but geez, it sure is more expensive to live there. Home Junction has that Cost of Living data.

All of these facts and statistics can be used to support and justify a pricing target.

A homeowner is going to want to know their agent will fight the good fight for them. As we all know, there many issues that will pound away at a pricing target.

Home inspections for one.

But an agent prepared with local market research can help counter any pushback on price or other conditions.

In addition, that agent can point out how real estate market data will help take the emotion out of negotiations.

This not only works when dealing with buyers, but as we all know, when calming down sellers who feel hurt or insulted during the negotiation process.

Having that hard, real estate market data can keep logic in the conversation and prove the fair market value of any property.

That’s how you get parties to settle down and get to an offer letter quicker.

It’s a harsh, cruel world out there sometimes. Your listing clients want to have the perception that you are going to be a tough and savvy negotiator on their behalf.

Showing them you have an in-depth reservoir of real estate market data assures them you have the cold, hard, “sacred” facts to wage that battle effectively.

 

 

 

 

How Timing And Real Estate Market Data Can Enhance Email Campaigns

/in /by

real estate market data for emails

There are four major components for creating a successful email campaign and Real Estate Market Data is definitely one strategy brokers and agents should have in their marketing toolbox.

Despite all the innovations we’ve seen, Email Marketing is one aspect of the Internet that has survived over the years starting from the early days of AOL discs and dial-up modems.

You can’t beat the fact that you can send a letter instantly, for free, to a large number of people.

However, there’s a problem. Everybody else in the universe loves this tool too.

Therefore, consumer inboxes are continually jammed with incoming emails. Some they signed up for. Others are sent by nefarious means (spam).

When it comes to email marketing, an agent can’t be lackadaisical. They need to use every advantage they can use to make their email stand out above the clutter.

The basics of successful emails

There are four very important components.

Those components are: Subject Line, Content, Segmentation and Time of Delivery.

Let’s start with Time of Delivery.

The great benefit of email campaigns is measurability. There is a ton of data than can be gleaned every time an email is sent out.

How many people opened the email?

How many people clicked on links on the email?

There is also another data point that experts monitor – best times to send an email.

For example, Monday is not a good time to launch an email campaign for business. People are busy on Mondays.

They are tired after a long weekend. They don’t want to do much or they don’t have time to do much. Therefore, the odds of your email getting read are very low.

Experts say the best standard times are Tuesday to Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

But wait. Some studies conflict with that schedule.

For example, an Experian study discovered that many people like to open their emails late night. Probably quite a few check their email in bed, before they go to sleep. In their study, they found unique open rates averaged 21.7% from 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. (There were even a decent amount of open rates from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. Go figure. Night owls or insomniacs perhaps.)

What’s also interesting is that if the email is a strong one, the difference in open rates per day is not that different. Everybody says Monday is a bad day for emails. But one study revealed the difference between email open rates on a Monday is about 1% less than the average 19.9% of consumers who open their emails on a Tuesday. Saturday is 2% lower on average, but not super low.

Conversely, the study found Tuesday is not the best day for click through rates with links in an email. Surprisingly, that’s Friday with a 4.9% link click rate on average. (Perhaps because people are less busy and winding down at the end of the week).

Here’s the point. Do some experimenting. Most experts say Saturday and Sundays are not great days for email blasts (and it could be because many people want to send emails when their staff is at work during the week).

But, for people looking for homes and perhaps open houses, maybe those are the best days.

Another beautiful thing about email is that you can send the same email multiple times. Send it on a Wednesday in the morning and again later that night. (Most email platforms have a filter where you can just send the email to people who did not open the first email they received).

Try a Saturday morning. Or a Sunday morning when most Open Houses are held.

A study by Deloitte found 40% of consumers check their emails with 5 minutes of waking up. Before going to sleep, 30% check their emails.

Here’s a key point. According to a study by Experian, 54% of people check their email on their phones. Which begs the question: is your website truly mobile-ready? Do your pages resize and adjust correctly when transformed to a mobile device? Does the site load quickly? (A WordPress Real Estate Themed Website is one way to ensure this. We discussed this previously in earlier blogs).

This is where segmentation comes in. Certain groups, say people actively looking for a home, will naturally have higher email open rates than others. Another group, perhaps people who own waterfront homes for example, will be more likely to open emails if they pertain to waterfront homes. Therefore, it’s important to also tailor your message as specifically as you can to the type of audience you are reaching out to.

Do research for your particular niche, not only the real estate business but also for the markets you are farming – for example, golf course communities or investment properties.

Ask other agents in other towns in similar niches what works for them.

Real estate market data provides subject matter

The next key factor is the Subject line. This is a big one.

A subject line is a like a digital billboard. A person’s eyeball can scan down through a list of email subject lines probably faster than a car doing 80 mph on the highway.

An agent has to present some attention-grabbing phrase in the subject line to make it through the clutter.
This is where real estate market data can be super-valuable.

With real estate market data on your website you have powerful content that home owners love to read.

  • Home pricing trends
  • Number of homes sold
  • Home value estimates (A Home Value Estimator tool is now available to local agents from data aggregators such as Home Junction and gives them the ability to compete for leads with the big mega-real estate portals).

Note: Standard tips say a subject line performs best when it’s a “how to,” a “list” or a “question.” Also, keep the subject line and email text informal. People would rather get a friendly email than a salesy one.

As an agent you want to establish a friendly, consultative-type relationship with a prospect, not one like a used-car salesman.

Promote the fact that you have this valuable real estate market data in your subject line. For example, an agent might say:

“Check out the Top 5 fastest selling neighborhoods in your area”

“How to determine if now is a good time to sell your property”

And the ever popular, “What your home is worth? Get a quick estimate here”

Everybody wants to know estimates of what their home is currently worth.

What a great way to stir up the interest of homeowners and perhaps uncover any who are planning to list their properties in the near future.

Provide a strong incentive to visit your website

Another important part of the email equation is content.

Your email might have a few different goals.

  • Brand name recognition
  • Lead generation
  • Traffic to your website

A strong subject line promoting your content will entice prospects to open your email.

But you want them to take action when they read that email.

It would be great if they called.

Or emailed you back.

Or visited your website (where there is more opportunity for them to learn about you, check out listings, use resources on your website and hopefully call or fill out a lead contact form.)

One way to achieve this is to offer compelling real estate market data as content.

Again, let consumers know:

“If you want to see Property Sales Trends in your neighborhood, click here.”

Or, “For a chart on the latest direction of Home Prices, click here.”

Consumers today are very, very busy.

They are also inundated with email.

When they click open your mail, it’s critical they have a satisfying experience.

Otherwise, they won’t keep opening those emails. And then you might lose them.

Either to another agent or perhaps one of the big real estate mega-portals.

Here’s the way to combat this. Everybody loves data.

And they are going to love the agent who is a reliable source of data for them.

Email is incredible. It’s free. It’s fast. It’s a proven marketing tool.

But don’t take it for granted.

Experiment with sending times. Monitor the open and the click-through rates. Break your target audience into segments.

When you send out those emails, make sure they are packed with real estate facts, not fluff.

Feature the most appealing, helpful content you can create, from the most reliable sources you can find.

Real estate market data from Home Junction is one of those sources. (And Home Junction can also help you with the design of your website to optimize lead generation).

 

Neighborhood Amenities Map Shows More Ways A Home Is A Good Investment

/in /by

neighborhood amenities map There’s more to a home than bedrooms and baths and a neighborhood amenities map can point out the extra value.

In every neighborhood, there are always at least a couple houses with bonus features that could be a great asset, but only if the value was uncovered correctly.

When a client is looking to invest in a property, their first instinct may be to look for the cheapest, or most basic house they can find in an area.

But an agent can use a neighborhood amenities map and local real estate data to show them sales and pricing trends which reflect the fact that certain features just make better selling points.

Here are some examples.

Neighborhood amenities map adds extra value

A new home owner who works in town may not care about commuting to a big metro area. But a potential buyer later on sure might.

More and more people, especially Millennials, are seeking employment in urban areas. Commuting will be a big factor for them.

Looking for a home that is within a short driving distance to the major city areas, or close to public transit can turn into major dollars later.

With your local real estate data tools and geocoded map software, show your client the difference in sale prices between a house near the city or bus stop, and a house further out of the way or out in the suburbs.

Real estate market data points out position in marketplace

A single person might not need a 2,000 square foot home, or a statuesque multi-story home. Not only would it be too much extra space, but the excess number of rooms also requires heating, cooling, maintenance, and dusting.

However, your real estate data tools will uncover the number of families moving into the neighborhood who would be excited to find a great property with enough room to grow.

Depending on where you are, you may also be able to show a growing population of retiring “baby boomers” who will pay top dollar for a single-story house that they can get around easily. Check the neighborhood demographics. Perhaps this is an area that attracts older residents.

Middle-aged home buyers might also be more comfortable knowing there are people their own age in the community.

A home value tool can also point out how a home is positioned in the market in terms of Size, Age, Price per Square Foot and Price. Maybe an owner with a big home that is relatively new should be looking at asking for a higher price. Words every seller loves to hear.

School data can do the selling for you

It would be impossible to talk about features that make good real estate investments without mentioning highly-rated schools.

Even if the buyers don’t have school age children, there are advantages to showing them the advantages of being located near a top-notch school.

Properties in the best school zones are hot commodities, as research shows parents moving into the area will pay top dollar to get their kids near their best chance at a good education.

Your local real estate boundary tools will show those important school attendance zones pointing out the schools that children will be attending.

Perhaps the school is average. It’s always possible with a change in principals or other personnel that it could be a hot school in the future.

Either way, being located near a school is huge. Parents will pay as much as 20% more to be located near one.

Point them out on your neighborhood amenities map.

Opportunities near desirable neighborhoods

While some buyers  may automatically pass up listings in a hot neighborhood due to pricing, your real estate data tools may be able to show a property in the area nearby that needs some work – and provide an estimate of how a renovated home may reach the price range of other homes and be a nice increase in value.

Some buyers who are looking in the trendier neighborhoods aren’t the DIY type, leaving a potential gold mine sitting on the market waiting for a handy home owner to see all of its possibilities.

According to some, building unique features into a home isn’t a great idea because not everyone will be interested in a home theater, six-car garage, pool, or pizza oven.

However, your real estate data tools will show the higher price range of homes with a little something extra. An investor, who is willing to wait a little longer for the perfect buyer to fall in love, could potentially see a big profit!

Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to good neighborhoods, good schools, and desirable home amenities.

But with your neighborhood amenities map and real estate market data, you can point out some very appealing opportunities to potential buyers.

 

 

How A Real Estate API Can Identify Those “Spillover” Neighborhoods Next To Hot Markets

/in /by

real estate api

A Real Estate API can be an effective tool to take advantage of popular markets and paint a picture why neighborhoods nearby are the “next big thing.”

We all know and love those trendy neighborhoods. That’s the place people covet where the homes are pretty (and usually large), streets are clean, landscaping is immaculate, schools are great and it’s surrounded by chic restaurants and shops.

Residents of that area are fortunate to live there, but unfortunately for brokers and agents farming that area, it’s a challenge.

The inventory of homes for sale in those markets might be extremely low, or even non-existent. And when somebody finally decides to put their property on the market, they may have lost their minds when it comes to pricing.

Real Estate API can spot new hot markets

Fortunately for brokers and agents, there are effective tools, such as a Real Estate API, that can help them create a scenario to promote adjacent neighborhoods as the “next best place” to buy.

A Real Estate API is basically like a door to a giant library of relevant property data – recent home sales, trends in home prices, school information, school attendance zones, boundaries, neighborhood data, crime ratings, demographics, etc.

With a few snippets of code,  that door can reside on an agent’s website. On any page.

Of course, it would be impossibly time-consuming for an agent to amass all this data.

But there are national data aggregators such as Home Junction that gather all this information for you. They filter the information, organize it and segment it by geographic boundaries.

Those boundaries are key.

Because if you are working on “spillover” markets, you want data not just for that zip code, but parsed all the way down to neighborhoods or subdivisions.

When you have that neighborhood-specific data, you can do wonders.

For example, a buyer wants to purchase a home in Trendy Oaks. But as we said, it’s likely there aren’t any homes for sale or the price of that lone home on the market is in the upper stratosphere.

However, with your Real Estate API embedded on your website, a broker or agent can show home shoppers how Next Door Oaks is starting to heat up as a hot neighborhood as well.

With a data feed that display Recent Home Sales in a trending chart, a buyer can easily see how home sales are starting to take off like a rocket.

Another chart can show the same for prices (Better make an offer now!).

School data is a powerful persuader

School data can be another huge factor.

With current School Attendance Zone data, an agent can point out how that neighborhood also qualifies for children living there to attend the same school as Trendy Oaks children.

These zones are critical. And hard to keep up with.

They do change, depending on shifts in student numbers. They can also be different for different grade levels. While the children in one neighborhood can attend a middle school down the street, it’s doesn’t mean they can attend the same high school as the students do next door.

There’s other data as well that can be supplied by a Real Estate API.

Take neighborhood demographics. An agent can use that information to show prospective buyers how the ages, incomes, family sizes, etc. of people in Trendy Oaks matches these neighborhoods next door.

But what’s really cool, is that the average home prices are much less. At least for now.

Hey Mr. and Mrs. Home Shopper, time to make a move.

Use geo-coding to point out signs of gentrification

Other data points for “Places of Interest” can be the proverbial icing on the cake.

Naturally, Whole Foods, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s and all the cool shops and stores are going to want to be located near the hot neighborhoods.

With a geo-coded spatial plug-in, integrated with MLS listings, an agent can show buyers how certain neighborhoods are located relatively close to those trendy retail stores.

Or, they can point out on a map, how some new stores are about to pop up next to new neighborhoods. A sure sign that gentrification is taking place and that area is about to become more popular.

Conversely, a Real Estate API with this massive amount of hyper-local real estate market data can be a very persuasive tool when making a presentation to a potential seller.

This data gives you a powerful story to tell. Distribute all these positive neighborhood attributes out to homeowners on a regular basis via social media, direct mail and even phone calls.

Create top of mind awareness in homeowners that you are the agent with the local knowledge and the local data to back it up.

Perception is not reality. People might want to live in that hot neighborhood and think they’ll just have to wait until something opens up.

But with your Real Estate Data API supplying you with real facts, an agent can point out how there are other similar neighborhoods starting to blossom, and smart buyers will jump on board.

 

Use Real Estate Market Data To Draw Millennial Agents Into Your Real Estate Brokerage

/in /by

recruit real estate agents

Real estate market data is not only a powerful tool for brokers to attract customers. It is also a powerful tool to recruit new agents.

As a broker, you want your brokerage to stay fresh, fun, and exciting. You know you want to create a company culture that is known for being vibrant, on top of new trends, and full of camaraderie. How can you attract a younger, tech-savvy Millennial as your newest agent recruit?

Millennials are people born in the “generation” between 1981 and 1996.

That means on this day, if you are between the ages of 22 and 37, you are a Millennial. While the media often tries to give Millennials a bad name, we know that this generation is actually one of the most creative, tech-savvy, empathetic, and career-driven: the perfect medley for an outstanding real estate agent.

Millennials looking to break into the real estate business won’t just settle for the first firm they come across.

They desire not only to be valued and connected with on a human level, but also to have hi-tech tools at their disposal to disseminate value on social media, conduct transactions quickly and efficiently, and the ability to perform tasks remotely and on their mobile devices.

Most real estate firms try to attract new talent with promises of generous commissions and bonuses.

While these things are important for any worker, they aren’t enough anymore just by themselves. This generation’s crop of new real estate agents want to excel at what they do, form real connections with their clients, and provide the absolute highest level of service.

And they want to be plugged in to the latest apps and software. They are comfortable with today’s technology and they know how to use it to be competitive.

You can set your firm apart by using “big data” tools such as a Real Estate Data API to tap into layers of hyper-local real estate market data to attract and sustain top-level Millennial talent in the real estate industry.

Because you can tell recruits all day long about how deep your firm is entrenched in the market and the strength of your brand. But you will certainly impress them when you pull up the latest real estate market data they can use showing Home Price Trends, Sales Activity, Neighborhood Demographics, School Data, School Attendance Zones, Municipal and Tax Boundaries, Crime Statistics and Comparative Analysis.

Real estate market data makes new agents local experts

Whether you are a small firm or a sizeable franchise, engaging and retaining millennial talent is about more than just money. This generation is motivated by efficiency, instant information, and the ability to self-sufficiently find and provide solutions.

Millennial real estate agents want to be the best – and local real estate data tools can equip them with the information they need to supplement their growing experience.

When a few simple clicks can help them compare home pricing, schools, amenities, crime, acreage, and other need-to-knows neighborhood by neighborhood, they are able to more easily feel and sound like a true expert when interacting with clients and helping them find their dream property.

In addition, having these tools at their disposal will help them ramp up quickly as agents with local knowledge. Something that veteran agents take years to develop.

Real estate data tools boost social media marketing

Millennials are known for being the “social media generation.”

While social media with endless cat videos and funny meme might seem silly, this medium can have significant impact when it comes to business. A recent survey by the National Association of Realtors found that 90% of agents said they plan to use social media to promote themselves.

Many real estate cornerstones have not yet approached social media marketing because they are intimidated and unsure about the process. Not so with Millennials.

They know their way around Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest – and local real estate market data will provide them with endless inspiration for informative, educational, and interesting social media posts to market their services.

A real estate agent on social media can easily use these tools to create a chart or infographic on the rise or fall of housing values in a particular neighborhood, compare schools, compile data on the most interesting local amenities, and then blast out a shareable blog or social media graphic that will interest and entertain local followers.

These tools also provide a strong jump-off point for blog content aimed at boosting search engine optimization.

By using real-time, real-life data for the property market in your specific area, blog-savvy agents can create lists of engaging topics in minutes.

With these topic ideas, an agent with a little writing skill can create months’ worth of factual and interesting blog content to drive more local keyword traffic to the firm’s website and social media accounts – in turn, increasing the number of qualified leads.

Every firm has its strong point that it markets to attract the best rising talent.

Those strategies might include high quality training, marketing resources, the latest technology, competitive bonuses, a vibrant company culture, or something else entirely like a big shiny office.

But in this day and age of big data technology, incorporating the use of in-depth, online real estate market data can give you the edge you need to attract, retain, and sustain the best of the innovative and talented Millennial crowd.

Real Estate Data API Can Provide Outstanding Value to Your Social Media Audience

/in /by

real estate data api chartsIn case you haven’t noticed with social media, it’s a busy place and adding a Real Estate Data API is one of today’s best tools to cut through all the clutter.

Consider these numbers – 93% of marketers advertise on Facebook. There are about three million businesses doing this.

According to the research, big brands post an average of EIGHT times a day.

That makes for one busy social media highway.

That’s a lot of business competing for the attention of your prospects – whether it’s other real estate brokers or agent or other businesses.

The market is heavily laden with agents posting content daily. How can you truly stand out and get attention on your Facebook content?

The key is to provide interesting and valuable content that will catch the eye, draw in the audience, and stimulate them to learn more or contact you.

This means value-added blogs and graphics, statistics, real estate market data, school news, local happenings, catchy writing, and viral shares with your expert commentary added.

Once you have hooked in a viewer with great content, they’ll want more – and hit the “follow” button on your page.

Real estate data API for when you don’t know what to write

If your talent lies in selling properties rather than wordsmithing, don’t worry too much.

Your audience cares more about your authenticity in providing relevant real-estate related content than your ability to craft an elegant phrase.

When it’s time for you to schedule some Facebook posts and you’re running low on creative juices, consider using a real estate API to supply some solid content inspiration.

Real estaste APIs from aggregators such as Home Junction can provide you with in-depth datasets on all sorts of property data.

  • Recent property sales
  • Trends in home prices
  • Home valuation tools (just like that big real estate website that strats with a “Z”)
  • Boundaries
  • School data
  • Crime statistics
  • Cost of living indices
  • Demographics
  • And much more.

This will help you churn out relevant and valuable posts, blogs, and graphics to help and support your clients.

Not only will this help you create outstanding content, but you will be installing the real estate API onto your website for clients to access.

They’ll love being able to see at their leisure, 24/7, real estate market data and trends, school data, demographics, crime rates, and cost of living data right from your website when house shopping.

You will love having them visit your website, either to gather their contact information with a lead form or establish your brand name in their mind as the place with local knowledge.

According to research, more than 90% of home shoppers said finding a broker who can demonstrate knowledge of the local market is one of their top criteria when looking for Realtors.

How a Real Estate Data API will improve your social media game

If you feel stuck on creating content, you’re not alone. After all, you didn’t exactly get into this business to sit at the computer and blog.

A real estate data API  and the constantly updated information it provides can inspire you to write an entire list of content ideas.

Consider topics like how property values are skyrocketing in a particular area, the listing of a historical or otherwise significant property, or which neighborhood is the best for a certain age demographic.

Demographics are another big draw of using a real estate data API. You might be able to find out that doctors, or professors, or engineers are moving into a certain area at high rates and come up with some inspiration to write about that, or do a piece on what kinds of houses are selling well in the area.

Get inside your ideal client’s head: what are they concerned about or interested in? Crime rates? Cost of living? Best areas for raising a family? Give them the valuable information they need, so they’ll want to stick around and hear more from you.

You have the content, now make it visuallly snappy

Many studies have shown that if a blog or Facebook post does not contain visually interesting and relevant photos, audiences will scroll past quickly.

You can use photos to build interest and keep audiences hooked. Whether you take photos yourself, purchase stock photos, or take screenshots of interesting data, adding pictures to your content will make it a lot more interesting.

The other visually appealing item that people love to view are charts. With a chart, a person can quickly grasp the direction of the market?

If you post a graph showing home sales trending upward in one neighborhood, that could prompt buyers and sellers to make a move.

Show another graph illustrating how property prices are moving up, or moved downward for a short period of time. Again, that one little graphic can be a catalyst for someone to buy or sell.

Your audience is also interested in hearing from your authentic self. Write as if you’re having a conversation with a friend. Stick to one main topic per post, let your personality and knowledge shine through, and add some interesting photos and you’ll be golden.

“Going viral” is one of the most sought-after forms of advertising: but it doesn’t just happen to everyone.

When sharing a post or blog on social media, the desired result is for someone to read it, enjoy it, and pass it on to someone else who might enjoy it. Are your posts interesting and valuable enough to make people want to share them with their network?

Localized content with a unique angle is considered highly shareable.

To display your knowledge of local real estate data, you can create guides – whether in the form of a Facebook post, blog, or infographic – containing specific information for your area.

This could include a comparison of local school data, the best area hospitals or golf courses, best-kept-secret restaurants in your town, a comparison of area crime rates, or anything else someone would really want to know if they were considering moving.

If you share the good stuff, with your authentic personality and some fun photos, your content will be more likely to get shared around social media and thus exposed to a much wider audience.

You know the power of social media marketing.

Use data gleaned from the real estate API to craft engaging and shareable posts, blogs, and infographics to position yourself as a powerful force on social media.

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

/in /by

real estate market dataReal 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.

 

 

 

 

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

/in /by

home sales data by zip codeAdding 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.”

 

 

 

 

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

/in /by

real estate market data artMillennials 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Estate Data Providers Can Make A Big Difference With Difficult Homes

/in /by

messy houseReal estate data providers can be a real lifesaver when it comes to prepping a home for sale, especially when a seller is strapped for cash or not the tidiest.

Sure, every broker and agent would love to see a seller upgrade that ancient kitchen.

Or, for a homeowner to remodel an ugly bathroom.

But how willing are sellers to dish out the money for upgrades?

Also factor in today’s marketplace, where it’s hard to find a reliable contractor.

Who charges reasonable prices. And happens to be available during the right time frame.

Normal prep costs, such as painting and minor repairs, can run into the thousands. About $3800 in most markets.

But what about major improvements?

According to a recent article in Realtor.com, the national average cost to remodel a kitchen is $20,000.

To upgrade a bathroom, a seller will have to spend $9,000 on average.

A new roof? Expect to pay $20,000 on average.

Replace the floors with wood floors – $4,000. Laminate floors will be about half that cost.

Not too many sellers are eager to part with that kind of money. They expect the agent instead, to perform miracles.

So what can an agent do when they have a home with a kitchen from 1950, a crummy bathroom, worn out floors or a leaking room?

One strategy is to turn to real estate data providers such as Home Junction.

Real estate data providers offer a different view of a property

Because while the home might not be in the best shape, the real estate market data tied into that property could be the catalyst that turns that old horse into a Preakness winner.

Home Junction is an aggregator of millions of bits of data that is all relevant to the purchase of a property.

The company has gathered detailed, in-depth information from a number of sources to create detailed, in-depth datasets about properties, neighborhoods and schools.

Say for example, Mr. and Mrs. Lazy Homeowner don’t want to bother fixing the shutters hanging sideways near the front windows.

Or, they don’t really want to clean the rug in the living room with all the wine stains.

They use the bathrooms every day to get ready for work. Why should they clean them for an open house?

When an agent takes a potential buyer to a property like this, they know they have a challenge.

But that’s where the real estate data providers can be a lifesaver.

Sure, Mr. and Mrs. Reluctant Homebuyers, this house does need work.

But, have you seen the latest chart on my website for Recent Home Sales. They are trending up. Like Space X rocket trajectory upward. You might reconsider.

Yes, the house is not pretty.

The agent knows the young couple have a young child with one more on the way.

But if you check the school data on my website (provided by Home Junction’s proprietary school data API coding), you will see that Charming Middle School down the street is a top-rated school with a fantastic ratio of students to teachers.

Back at his or her office, the agent is able to show the couple the demographics of that particular neighborhood.

The information (provided by Home Junction’s real estate data API) shows this particular neighborhood has lots of young families with children. Plenty of friends for their children to play with. Plenty of moms and dads to meet at the local park.

Check out the Home Value Estimator on the agent’s website. The results show that particular home is in the lower 20% range when it comes to price per square foot. If you want to live in this neighborhood with those great schools, this house is a bargain.

Agents don’t control condition of the home, but can control the data picture

As agents know, the home buying experience is an emotional one. If a couple walks into a home and sees walls marked by crayons, a towel rack barely hanging from the bathroom wall and a kitchen with puke-colored cabinets, it’s gonna be a tough sell.

But those items can be repaired. Those are cosmetic factors. Items an agent will try their best to get out of the minds of buyers.

Or, they might be talking to sellers who need to get out a home quickly or don’t have the funds to replace those ugly kitchen cabinets. Or maybe they are sellers, who tried their best, agreed to paint the walls, and the crayon marks still show through.

Those crayon marks are only a small part of the picture.

There’s a bigger picture out there. The picture you paint with the information you gathered from real estate data providers such as Home Junction and embedded on your website.

The numbers picture. And boundaries as well. All those datasets that come together to show this is a desirable property in a rising sales marketplace.

Priced below other homes that recently sold in this market. With a low crime rate. In the right school attendance zones. Located in an area with a low tax rate compared to other areas that are within city limits.

This data is so powerful, an agent could almost print it out and tape it over the crayon marks on the wall and say, “Which image is more important to you? Those red scribble marks or this chart showing property sales moving quickly in this community?”

There’s emotion and there are facts. When emotions are running in one direction, real estate market data can help counter those feelings and point them in another.

That’s why in this day and age, before you encounter your next Mr. Messy Homeowner,  it’s smart to get in touch with real estate data providers such as Home Junction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brokers And Agents Can Now Add A Critical Flood Zone Map To Their Websites

/in /by

flood zone map

After 2017’s year of record-breaking disasters, real estate brokers and agents can now become an even more valuable asset for local consumers by adding a flood zone map to their website.

The real estate market data company Home Junction has implemented its data aggregating technology to extract these valuable flood zone maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and can now include these boundaries in their data feed for real estate agents. This information can appear as a text notice of a flood zone or geo-spatially as a boundary on a map.

If you recall those images on television of the flooding in Houston alone, brokers or agents can certainly see that consumers are going to be concerned about the location of their property in relation to waterways and floodplains more than ever before.

According to the National Centers for Environmental Protection, Hurricane Harvey caused flood damage to more than 200,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. The estimated cost of the devastation is a whopping $125 billion.

Last year, massive floods also destroyed properties in Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas and southern Illinois when rivers reached historic levels and levees were breaches. In California, heavy rains there caused the Oroville Dam spillway to overflow and 188,000 people had to be evacuated.

“Today buyers need to know if the property they are considering is at risk,” said Ed Kim, Senior Vice President with Home Junction. “Any real estate company that adds a flood zone map is going to provide an incredible resource for their marketplace.”

Home Junction researchers obtained the floodplain data using its advanced “slipstream data technology” to parse a flood zone map down to the zip code, neighborhood or subdivision level. This enables local agents to provide these boundaries for the neighborhoods they are farming.

The company has gathered this boundary data for 2,300 counties, where flooding may be an issue.

For years, the national approach to flooding was to focus on flood-control projects such as dams, levees, seawalls, etc. However, property damage to homes still occurred and in many instances development still took place in high-risk areas.

To mitigate this problem, Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The concept behind the program was to identify at-risk areas to reduce flood damage with community floodplain management ordinances and to prevent development in high-risk locations. The agency then also provided flood insurance to homes that could possibly be flooded if a catastrophic storm took place, which as we’ve seen does happen, even in areas once considered safe.

A flood zone map adds boundaries for different levels of risk.

For example, in Special Flood Hazard Areas, home buyers need to know flood insurance is required. This may be true for some properties even if they are not located in the 100-year floodplain.

The company also has a flood zone map for homes in the 500-year floodplain, where flood insurance is not generally required. But consumers will know there is some degree of risk in those locations.

Adding a flood zone map is just one more tool that Home Junction can provide to a broker or agent to enable them to truly display in-depth knowledge of an area.

The company already aggregates and distributes data feeds for school data, property sales, market trends, real estate demographics, crime statistics and cost of living indices.

They are also experts in boundary data polygons. The company provides school district boundaries, school attendance zones, municipal boundaries and much more.

This is the 21st Century. We are at the next wave in the Information Age.

We are also experiencing a time when major weather events are taking place. Catastrophic storms are creating situations where hundreds of thousands of people may be stuck with damaged homes. Many in the Houston flood did not have flood insurance.

In this day and age, if a broker or agent really wants to be a neighborhood expert, they will need to back up that strategy. Not just with talk, but with detailed real estate market data and a flood zone map for the areas in their target markets.