The Internet's Impact on the Real Estate Industry

Today I want to take a look at the different websites that can help you
on your real estate search.
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Today I want to take a look at how big internet companies such as Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Facebook, Google, etc., are affecting the real estate industry.

To start with, let's look at Zillow. Pretty much everybody knows Zillow, but did you know that Zillow owns Trulia? They are a billion-dollar company with a giant database of homes. Zillow is sort of hit or miss when it comes to showing you what is actually available, however, since some homes are not actually for sale or are already under contract.

Zillow is making major moves in the real estate industry with their Zestimates while also still having a normal business model that is focused on advertising for real estate agents. They pull data from all different websites and compile all of the homes into one list.

Since they are not all for sale, you have to be cautious as a buyer when searching for homes on Zillow. Meanwhile, if you are a seller, you should also be careful of their Zestimates which can be off by a significant margin when it comes to buying or selling a home. You need a professional real estate agent to gauge the true value of what your home is worth. Trulia is essentially the same as Zillow, so these ideas also apply.

Realtor.com is not as big as Zillow. They are another search engine and are not as sophisticated as Zillow. Personally, I would use Zillow over Realtor.com, but many people tell me that Realtor.com's data is more accurate.

Keep in mind that it is still another advertising platform for real estate agents. This means that when you put your information into the website, you will have an agent like me calling you to see if you want to buy the home you inquired about.

“
Zillow is making major moves in the real estate industry with their Zestimates while also still having a normal business model that is focused on
advertising for real estate agents.”
Obviously, we all know that Facebook is the biggest social media website in the world. They help you as homeowners and home sellers by using digital marketing.

For the listing side, Facebook uses demographic-based marketing, so if you have a property that fits a certain niche, Facebook is the best way to push the property out to people who are interested in that type of property. It is also great for promoting listings and getting information out to consumers about real estate.

If you think that you want to sell your home on your own, promoting it on Facebook may be the way to go. There are tons of people on Facebook that, I think, would make it a great place to market it. A lot of agents, in fact, promote their properties on Facebook for buyers.

Google is great on the sale side for promoting listings. Agents can even push listings on Google. It is an easy platform to use because you can search around the schools or other areas that you are most interested in potentially living. I personally, would use Google the least out of all the platforms if you are trying to find or promote properties. It is really great for the business side of real estate, but not the marketing side.

Overall, I think that if you are searching for homes, you should look at Zillow or Trulia. If you are looking at promoting a listing, Facebook is a great option. And, finally, Google does it all, however, it is unfocused.

If you have any additional questions about these platforms or are interested in buying or selling, please feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to speaking with you soon.