When it comes to using the Internet, real estate companies have been far from complacent.
Since the Internet arrived some 15 years ago, Web usage has soared to 66 percent among American adults and to 81 percent among people 18 to 29 years old, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
It’s no wonder, then, that the real estate sector, which depends on the exchange of information, has been drawn to the information superhighway.
Real estate companies in Fairfax County, part of a region sometimes called the “second Silicon Valley,” have embraced technology, particularly the Internet, to more effectively navigate disparate and diffuse information and also assist consumers.
“IN THIS ENVIRONMENT, I certainly wouldn’t do business without the available technology,” said Ken Richmond of RE/MAX Allegiance.
For the most part, companies have used the Internet as an integral informational tool. Practically every real estate company, from the biggest chain to individual Realtors, offers its services on the Web.
“I call my Web page a virtual office. It’s a full-service site,” Richmond said.
On just about every one of these Web pages, area companies feature their listings and sometimes other local listings; they offer a limited search of the Metropolitan Regional Information System’s multiple listing service (MLS), which contains nearly every local home listing on the market; and they sometimes include virtual tours, where consumers can check out a home’s interior from their computer. For sellers, some of the sites offer a free home value analysis that can be completed online.
“First, [my site] helps consumers to get to know me before they sign with me. Second, it offers as much information for consumers as possible about the process,” said Richmond, who teaches a course called “Technology Driving Your Success” through the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR).
“I have many people who are referred to me by the site, and others who end up going somewhere else. But that doesn’t bother me. I’m trying to make sure that the consumer gets the best information available,” Richmond said.
The most popular feature on his site, Richmond said, is a MLS searching service that matches a buyer’s criteria for a new home and then sends the results back to the buyer via e-mail three times a day.
ACCORDING TO DATA from a 2003 study by the National Association of Realtors, the Internet is a tremendous ally.
“The fear five to 10 years ago was that the Internet would be detrimental to the real estate business,” said Richmond, “but they found the opposite to be true.” Providing information to the online masses proved good for business.
The study found that consumers who use the Internet are 10 percent more likely to use an agent than non-Internet users: 89 percent versus 79 percent, respectively.
“Buyers who use the Internet first are better-educated consumers,” said Amy Ritsko-Warren, manager of communications and media relations at NVAR. “They tend to spend less time visiting homes because they have a better idea of what they want.”
Buyers, she said, use the Internet to do a lot of prep work before buying a home or choosing a Realtor.
The NVAR study found that 71 percent of buyers used the Internet at some point in their home search and 93 percent of those people were looking for home listings.
As a consequence, agents have looked to take their use of the Internet to the most unlikely of places. One real estate broker in Fairfax County enlisted the aid of eBay to market a home for sale. As of April 28, a Centreville townhouse, listed for $369,900, was posted on the eBay Web site. This was one of 10 homes in Virginia posted on eBay by either an agent or by an owner, ranging from a $92,000 southwest Virginia country home that sits on 13 acres to a $2.75 million luxury estate in Fredericksburg.
As the industry tries different and innovative ways to use the Internet, some will work and some won’t, but for now the technology remains valuable to companies and consumers alike.