There are many great Orange County and Desert Cities area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (949) 441-0701 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.
The Pitfalls of Shopping for Homes Online
With the emergence of online real estate searches, I have come across numerous issues with the information these websites provide. Here are three major issues I have come encountered:
- They are just plain wrong. I have had countless clients contact me about homes they have found on Zillow, Trulia, or Realtor.com. After a quick search on the MLS, I find that those listings are completely incorrect. Also, I have found that listings posted by those sites are incorrect. This is because these home search engines only pull samples of information – even from listings I’ve sold years ago! It is becoming increasingly important for you to understand that real estate agents cannot control how this information is used on these websites – they have their own algorithms and their own format.
- Your identity is up for sale. These websites also sell your information to other real estate agents who are advertising on the website. Agents who don’t generate a high volume of business pay to be on those websites and will contact you once your information has been entered.
- Inaccurate pricing information. As a seller, this can be misleading when you want to obtain a price evaluation for your home. These websites don’t take the local market conditions, your home’s upgrades, or added square footage into consideration when pricing your home. They only pull information from tax rolls! This proves that these websites are unable to give you a clear depiction of your home’s value.
