Searching for a Needle in a Haystack
Does anyone know where to find a decent real estate site?
By Brian Chee
OCWeb Scout
 If I had a dime for
every time my browser hit a real estate site, I'd be looking for a new home. They're
everywhere, crowding search engines and clogging directories, the funky home-made business
card sites and the 40-page professional extravaganzas.
Psst...real estate agents and the companies
they work for have discovered the Internet in a big way.
Is that a good thing for the rest of us?
Sure it is. Anything that gives home buyers and
sellers more control over a real estate transaction is definitely a good thing--and the
Internet certainly does that. Thanks to the Web, prospective home buyers can browse what
was once the cherished secret of agents everywhere--the Multiple Listing Service--and find
their own homes. Just imagine--you're looking for a home, and instead of calling an agent
and making he or she do all the work, you can spend your leisure hours staring at listings
on a computer screen.
Did I say it was a good thing?
Sorry. Maybe it's too much of a good
thing. A random, 2-hour search for homes in South Orange County cities resulted in a feast
or famine scenario: either I found nothing but frustration or I got everything under the
sun.
"I'm the Internet Agent."
AllCities Realty
"The problem with using the Internet to find a home is that you really have to know
how to search to be effective," says Joe Miner of AllCities Realty. "Most people
aren't that good at searching, and they end up not getting the right information. On top
of that, often most of the homes on the Internet are old listings--who knows how often
they're updated?" According to south county agent Debbie Ferrari, that's just not
true. "My buyers don't seem to have a problem with finding homes that are currently
for sale," says Ferrari. "It's important to search the right way--don't request
information too specific, and work from a broad request down to the finer points."
It seems that the trick is to find the best sites
to search on, but that's easier said than done when the vast majority are either pure hype
or darkened garbage floating in cyberspace.
"I Use the Internet to Make Home Buying
Fun and Easy for You."
Debbie Ferrari.com
There are a few nuggets out there, however, and one of the best belongs to Ferrari.
"My web site works because it has something for every need and every visitor,"
says Ferrari. "We keep adding things to make it even better. Rather than my site talk
about me, as a great many agents do, I have it serve the wants and needs of the
visitors," says Ferrari. "That's why they are greeted with so many options to
choose from when they first see my home page."
You'd be hard-pressed to find someone doing more
on the Internet: according to Ferrari, almost 98 percent of this year's business has been
generated from her web site. Ferrari claims that most of her buyers don't have much
difficulty searching the MLS, and that the directory is usually updated daily. "The
key is in submitting her site to as many search engines, directories and "home
finder" sites as possible, and keeping on top of email requests.
"Call Me the Technology Agent."
Realtor®.com
But for every Ferrari, there's an old clunker coming down the road with nothing more than
a photo and a resume. "Many agents initially jumped into the Internet thinking they
could do it themselves," says Greg Herder, owner of Hobbs/Herder Advertising, a local
ad agency specializing in the real estate industry. "They're just now beginning to
realize that to be successful, they have to do it right." Herder stresses to clients
the importance of creating a resource on the Internet, of building a web site much in the
way an agent builds a traditional client base. "You've got to give people a reason to
go back, to use the site as an extension of the community," says Herder.
Which is what agents have always done door-to
door with fly swatters, notepads and lottery tickets. Thanks to the Internet, today the
freebies are home searches — definite good thing for home buyers in Orange County.
(To see the real article)
This site has won ALL the top Real
Estate Awards--and dozens of others--for XLNT Content and Design
_____________________________________________________________
Debbie Ferrari, e-PRO | "The
Internet Broker"
© 2007, An
independently owned and operated member of The Prudential Real Estate
Affiliates, Inc. is a service mark of The Prudential Insurance Company
of America.
Serving all of
South Orange County, CA
Providing Realtor® and real estate services for: San Clemente, Dana
Point, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Monarch Beach,
Capistrano Beach, Laguna Hills, Beach Cities, and South and Central
Orange County, California
Prudential California Realty
Debbie's Prudential California Realty Office:
23811 Aliso Creek Road, Suite 181 | Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
(Inside The Laguna Niguel Design Center | Corner of Aliso Creek
and Alisa)
--------------------------------------
Debbie's personal home office; 2924 Camino Capistrano,
Suite D, San Clemente, CA 92672
Call Me Toll Free: 888-547-2942
Orange
County: 949-463-4111
Mobile/Cell:
949-463-4111
Main Fax (949) 625-8622 | Backup Fax:
949-487-6782
_____________________________________________________________
We
tolerate NO pirating or unauthorized copying of text, codes, graphics,
formats, design elements, etc. from this site and routinely take the
most severe legal action against offenders. For information, contact my attorney, Darren Smith, http://www.darrensmithlaw.com
at smithlaw@darrensmithlaw.com.
Send site-related questions to: Bill@Koelzer.com.By submitting any form on this site with your contact information including name, telephone number, address and/or e-mail address, you are consenting for Debbie Ferrari and her authorized representatives to contact you even if your name is on the Federal "Do Not Call List".
(C) Debbie Ferrari, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.
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