Sequim Real Estate and Port Angeles Real Estate Blog
Real Estate News, Prices, Homes and Land, Ranches, View Property, Photos, Search MLS
Archive for the ‘Search Sequim MLS’ Category
Buyers of Homes Using Powerful Internet Resources
Author: Chuck Marunde2 Nov
Buyers of real estate today are taking their searches and their methods to entirely new levels, thanks to the Internet. Buyers want access to instant information that is free, and they do not want the kind of uncomfortable confrontation that occurs when they have to pick up the phone and call a salesman.
I believe there are two powerful reasons for this change. First, the Internet has given consumers the ability to search the multiple listing service in their target markets at no cost anytime of the day or night. When I first started in real estate before the Internet, I had an MLS book that was published every Friday with all the listings in it. People had to actually come into the office and sit down with me while we thumbed through this two-inch thick book. Now, buyers can jump on the Internet from the comfort of their homes and search the MLS without even talking to a real estate agent. They like that.
Second, there is a cultural shift occurring that is fueled by consumers. Technology has facilitated consumers’ desires to move away from traditional high pressure sales and from traditional advertising. Buyers do not like being force fed news and advertising without choice. They don’t like being told what to do. Consumers want to have the power to decide what they look for, who they talk to (or don’t talk to), and who they do business with. And they want to be able to come and go as they gather information without being hindered. The advent of the Internet and the explosive growth of technology on the Internet to facilitate consumers is a Godsend for the majority of Americans.
Even the news that consumers are reading is part of this cultural change. They are shifting from print newspapers to the Internet at the speed of light, and they are loving the fact that they get to choose what news to read. A fascinating study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism examined what news consumers are reading when they have a choice:
The question of whether citizens define the news differently than professionals is becoming increasingly relevant. It started with offering visitors a sense of what others found interesting: what news stories were most emailed and most viewed?
Soon, establishment news sites like CBSNews.com allowed users to make their own newscasts. Then, names like Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us emerged as virtual town squares that became a way to measure the pulse of what the web community finds most newsworthy, most captivating, or just amusing. The trend continues, as even Myspace, the social networking site popular among 20-somethings, has launched a news page (http://news.myspace.com).
Some key findings include:
- The news agenda of the three user-sites that week was markedly different from that of the mainstream press. Many of the stories users selected did not appear anywhere among the top stories in the mainstream media coverage studied. And there was often little in the way of follow-up. Most stories on the user-news sites appeared only once, never to be repeated again in the week we studied.
- The sources user news sites draw on are strikingly different from the mainstream media. Seven in ten stories on the user sites come either from blogs or Web sites such as YouTube and WebMd that do not focus mostly on news.
- The three user news sites differed from one another in subtle ways. Reddit was the most likely to focus on political events from Washington, such as coverage of Vice President Cheney; Digg was particularly focused on the release of Apple’s new iPhone; Del.icio.us had the most fragmented mix of stories and the least overlap with the News Index.
- On Yahoo News—even when picking from a limited list of stories Yahoo editors had already pared down—users’ top stories only rarely matched those of the news professionals.
Consumers are taking control of what and how they gather information. That is true with the news and the advertising they choose to read, or ignore, and it is true today about how they search for and buy real estate.
Home buyers can search a beautiful map based multiple listing service (see example of an MLS search that is easy to navigate and graphically pleasing), they can search the locale of interest with a Google search to find for-sale-by-owners, to find an exclusive buyer’s agent, to read local real estate blogs, and view photos of the area. They can do all of this from the comfort of their home without talking to a single salesman.
The vast majority of buyers are not using real estate portals either. Buyers are no longer pulled by the big names of real estate companies branded on billboards or on TV commercials. The dominant branding of big names that was such a major factor in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s has faded just as the Internet has grown. Consumer loyalty is no longer to the “branded companies.” Consumers are loyal to themselves, and that is the way it should be. Technology has finally given the consumer what they have always wanted–the power to choose. They choose the information they view, how and when they view it, and they choose what to do with that information without interference from anyone.
Buyers are taking control, and they love it.
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed.
Sequim MLS Search with Map Search Feature
Author: Chuck Marunde23 Sep
Now you can search the Sequim and Port Angeles MLS of over 1,500 listings with a Map Search feature. Of course, you can also search with your unique parameters at the same time and see the property details by simply clicking on the listing indicators on the map. Try it, you’ll like it. Click on this image to search the Sequim and Port Angeles MLS Listings.
I am constantly upgrading and developing new systems that make it easy for you, the buyer, to find exactly what you are looking for, and at no cost, no obligation, and no required registration. All free, courtesy of Chuck Marunde and Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC.
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed.
Searching the Sequim MLS and Port Angeles MLS v. NWMLS
Author: Chuck Marunde6 Jun
The Sequim MLS and Port Angeles MLS consists of the Olympic Listing Service (OLS) and for some the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). All local brokers and agents are members of the OLS, but not all are members of the NWMLS.
I’ve been meditating on this issue in light of the great conflict that stirs quietly behind the scenes among brokers. Mediation is a good thing. It reduces stress and sometimes gives us answers that seem to drop down out of the heavens.
While I was meditating on the relative merits of these two competing listing services, I had a revelation, and suddenly something hit me on the head pretty good. I thought God’s messenger had miraculously tapped me with wisdom. When I got up, I realized it was just the book on my computer monitor that fell. Fortunately, my head cushioned its fall. Unfortunately, my revelation probably found its roots in terra firma rather than the heavens.
By now, you’re probably thinking, “So, what is the revelation?” Perhaps it’s more of a reflection, rather than a revelation. Okay, here it is. Since us local agents are all members of the OLS but not all members of the NWMLS, that makes the NWMLS pretty much useless. Let me explain.
When an agent does a search of the listing database of all homes and land for sale in Sequim and Port Angeles, he needs a complete database. If the database is incomplete, he cannot expect to pull together a decent set of comps to determine price or make accurate comparisons. Since not all local brokers are members of the NWMLS, that database is incomplete, and any data used to arrive at price comparisons will also be less than complete.
Some brokers or agents like to make the argument that having a listing in both systems gets exposure to Seattle side agents and buyers, but no agent I know in Sequim or Port Angeles has been able to tell me that they have sold a listed property that way. Local agents use the OLS, not the NWMLS to search for local properties and to email clients reports.
I have used both listing services, and there’s no question at all which is better–it is the NWMLS. The NWMLS has much better technology, and it has much better content with the statewide forms. Unfortunately, because many brokers refuse to be part of the NWMLS but all are members of the OLS, that means only the OLS is a complete database. Why don’t all agents and brokers simply agree to be part of the NWMLS?
First, we are not, in fact, picking up any buyers through the NWMLS. That alone ought to be enough. Some of my clients will logically say, “Well, don’t we get more exposure?” Reasonable question, but I never got any calls from Seattle area Realtors during the entire year I was a member of both services here, nor has any Realtor in Clallam County ever sold one of their listings through the NWMLS that I know of, and I have talked with many many agents on this issue. Sure, someone somewhere is going to come up with an exception from years past. But we don’t deal with would of, could of, or maybe. We are trying to sell real estate now to real buyers.
Second, where are our buyers coming from? Mostly from out of state, and I also track Seattle area people hitting my website. Guess what the Seattle buyers are doing (and I just wrote an offer for a Seattle area buyer on a $419,000 house)? They are jumping up on the Internet and going to the search engines. They don’t go to a Seattle area Realtor’s website to log into NWMLS. They are finding my sites directly through the search engines. That’s what people do now. They use search engines. They type in phrases like, “Port Angeles real estate water view” or a similar phrase. When they type that in a search engine, they get real results right here in River City. If they type such a search in the NWMLS, they don’t get much, because the majority of local listings are not there, but they are NOT going to the NWMLS to do this search. They, like everyone else, are using search engines, like Google.
Third, most people don’t realize the NWMLS cost about $960 for me as a broker to sign up, and about $360 per year for me and every one of my agents. If a broker is a member, it is mandatory that all agents be members. Since leads don’t come in from the NWMLS (honestly they do NOT), that would be like throwing money off the bridge.
Fourth, the OLS and the NWMLS are only two databases available on the Internet, and there are about three dozen that people use. Most all of these real estate databases are pulling information from sources other than the NWMLS. These other database services or Internet services are optimized for the search engines. The NWMLS and the OLS are not optimized for search engines.
Until all local brokers agree to be members of the NWMLS, there is not a compelling reason to do so. Why do you think the largest local brokerage, Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty, is not a member?
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed.
How to Search the Sequim MLS or Port Angeles MLS
Author: Chuck Marunde23 May
You can search over 1,500 Sequim MLS listings and Port Angeles MLS Listings from my website at: Search MLS Listings.
There’s a short audio on how to use the MLS search to find what you are looking for. If you are unable to find exactly what you are looking for, do not assume it doesn’t exist, as the audio explains. The local MLS input data sheet has many check boxes, and not all agents complete all the “include” or “exclude” sections. It’s easier for agents to use the “comments” or “remarks” section to describe something unique or special about the property.
Sometimes people run into trouble when they try to listen to an audio on their Internet browser, whether it is Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. The solution is to check the options in your browser, and make sure that the default setting for listening to “.mp3’s” is the audio program you use on your computer (i.e. Windows Media Player, Winamp, etc.).
If you have any difficulty or can’t find the home or land you are looking for, email me at chuckmarunde@gmail.com or simply call me at 360-775-5424.
P.S. I will be glad to help you with any technology problems you’re having on this. Come on now, when was the last time a Realtor offered help with your tech issues?
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed.
