Me? I was somewhat surprised at how few found their new home via real estate agents … but upon reflection, not really.
For years I’ve written and said that a good real estate agent’s skillset is far, far more than having a login to the MLS and a lockbox key (although I’d argue that that’s the primary skillset for at least half of licensed real estate agents).
A great real estate professional helps buyers (and sellers) put together puzzles, serves as a guide – a navigator of the market, and a filter and interpreter of the seemingly endless morass of purportedly relevant information available. Searching for homes online is easy; ascertaining whether that home is the right one for you is often much more difficult.
Heck, in 2007, I wrote about 12 reasons to to use a Realtor.
With that preface, have some fun with the data the NAR just put out about where buyers find homes.
And for even more fun with data (and data display):
Wow, I knew that the internet was a common resource for home buyers but I never knew that it was the leading source of finding a home. This just goes to show that if real estate agents are not maximizing the internet, they are loosing business.