Survey Says.......

One of my best resources is The National Association of Realtors Buyers and Sellers Report. Every year it provides valuable insight into how buyer and seller demographics change based on market conditions. If your home is presently on the market, the most useful information is in the section on the home search process:

• 74 % of buyers said that they used the internet frequently during the process
• 36% of buyers went to the internet as the first step in the home search process.
• 19 % contacted a real estate agent first
• 7% began by looking for for sale signs

  So while the majority of buyers are looking online ( 89%)   they still use many other sources of information in the process of looking for a home.

• Most used real estate agents (88%).
• Followed by yard signs (57%).

For buyers who used the internet in their search process.

• 59 % of those buyers went to MLS sites.
• 45 percent used Realtor®.com,
• 43% went to real estate company websites
• 42% went to individual agent sites
• 41% went to sites like Zillow, Homegain, and Yahoo

This Week's Real Estate Insight: The internet has opened up a variety of sources for information to help in your home search, but nothing so far can take the place of a local Realtor's expertise.   No matter where people started their home search, more than any other source, a real estate agent was   responsible for finding the home that they   ultimately purchased.    Make sure you have a great  Realtor with  great internet exposure.