2009 Profile of Buyers and Sellers

When I first opened up Residential Properties in 1981, people would ask me where I worked and I would say Residential Properties...almost as a question, since almost no one knew who we were.   Today, I am proud to say that the RPL Chevron is almost recognizable as MacDonald's Golden Arches in our State. The real estate industry today bears little resemblance to the way we did business back then.   The internet has changed everything. According to the 2009 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 90% used the Internet at some point, seven years ago only 41% of buyers used the internet. When asked where they found the home that they ultimately bought, 36% of buyers found the home on the Internet; another 36% learned of that home from a real estate agent. In 2001 48% of the people found their home through an agent and only 8% of the people found their ultimate home from the internet. It is not always what happens, but how you react that determines your success.   I am proud of the amount and quality of information we provide on residentialproperties.com. With more and more information on the web, more people are turning to a professional for help sorting through all of it. And how do people choose their agents?  They look for someone with a great online presence who has knowledge of the process and the market.   This Week's Real Estate Insight: There are lessons to be learned from NAR's annual profile of buyers and sellers. It makes sense to apply them. The most effective methods to bring buyers and sellers together are the Internet, working with an agent (who learns about properties through the MLS), and signs. 84% of buyers learned about their home through one of these sources. If you want to sell your home, look for an agent with a great reputation, whose company has a great web presence and good market share.