Someone posed a question in a technology seminar I was in today: "When was your first memorable encounter with a computer?" The crowd was a mix of generations, and everyone's experiences were very different. For me, being in my early 30s, I remembered having Macintosh computers in 5th grade, playing Oregon Trail and just hoping my oxen wouldn't die before I reached Wyoming. But for others, they were much further into adulthood, when they first navigated the mysterious realms of DOS, Windows, and the Internet.
I remember when my parents purchased our first home computer when I was in the 8th grade, and I also remember buying my first computer at the ripe age of 19, living in my first apartment. This was the same computer that I used to perform the home search leading to the purchase of my first home.
As time progresses and the world becomes more and more at our fingertips via smart phones, tablets, and everywhere-internet, the shift to internet and social-media home searches will continue to flourish and grow. Right now, the statistic is staggering already, and the percentage will only continue to rise. According to Inman News Jan 8, 2013:
Consumers’ online experiences are increasingly influencing their homebuying activity offline, according to a joint study from search giant Google and the National Association of Realtors.
The report, "The Digital House Hunt: Consumer and Market Trends in Real Estate," includes custom research from NAR’s 2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers as well as internal Google data and research conducted by Google and third-party marketing firm Compete.
Real estate-related searches on Google.com rose 253 percent over the past four years and 22 percent on annual basis in the third quarter, according to internal Google data. Of the latter, about one-fifth of such searches occurred on mobile devices — a 120 percent year-over-year increase.
Nine out of 10 house hunters searched online during the homebuying process with 52 percent choosing that as their first step in the process, the report said. Those who used search engines were 9 percent more likely to take an action on a real estate brand website than those who did not search and those who searched performed an average of 11 searches prior to taking an action, the report said.
Google and Compete tracked the behavior of users who completed a specific desired "conversion activity" at a real estate website during second-quarter 2011 and second-quarter 2012.
These activities included registering to buy or sell a home, sharing a listing, submitting a lead form, using a mortgage calculator, viewing a contact phone number, or viewing directions to a home or agent office. Google and Compete backtracked 90 days from the time a user completed one of these actions to uncover behavior patterns that lead to the activity.
- See more at: Inman.com
So, when listing your home, it is important to consider the online exposure the listing will have to potential buyers. Here are some suggested questions to ask your agent:
What websites will my listing be published on, besides the area MLS?
Do you participate in any Craigslist advertising?
Do you have social media sites where you publish your listings? If so, which ones? (NOTE: Facebook is fine, but it is more about friends than business... Facebook Pages is a great utility, as is Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, and Youtube.)
Do you blog? What is your blog address, so I can follow your blog?
This is a great jumping-off point, to see if your listing will be placed where it needs to be: at the nimble fingertips of potential home buyers right where they are looking: the wonderful, mysterious, and widely-used world of the internet and social media.
Compiled by:
Jessica Borden, Executive Assistant, The Creel Group @ Keller Williams Realty
Follow The Creel Group on Twitter: @KWCreelGroup and Jessica Borden @Jessleighborden.
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