Zillow to Buy Trulia for 3.5 Billion

If you've bought a home in the past decade, you're probably familiar with Zillow and Trulia. Both are residential real estate online databases founded in 2005 that list information on homes available for sale and rent. While this information is free to the public, real estate agents must pay to advertise their listings, and have the option of paying more in order for their listings to show up toward the top of search results. This is made evident by Zillow's "Premiere Agent" program.

The two sites currently account for 48% of listings web traffic (excluding local sites), and have the potential to control over 70% of online real estate searches. Both sites are already industry leaders. In June,  Zillow and Truila together had 68.4 million unique users. ComScore reports that Zillow-Trulia traffic is 3.5 times greater than Realtor.com traffic. However, Realtor.com is known for more accurate prices than both Zillow and Truilia, because it is run by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and thus can access the multiple listing service (MLS).

The deal was announced Monday, July 28th and is set to close next year. Zillow's cheif executive officer, Spencer Rascoff, maintains that both sites will retain their separate brands and web presences. Investors are happy and consumers are not yet drastically impacted; however, agents have another story.

While many agents accept these online sites, others do not support them. For example, some agents disagree with Zillow's "Zestimates," claiming that they inaccurately portray home values. However, the merger leaves little bargaining power for disgruntled agents. Bradley Safalow, Founder of PAA Research in New York, warns against Zillow increasing agent advertising costs, noting that some brokers may take their listings off of third party sites all together in an attempt to increase traffic to their own webpages and reduce advertising expenses. Indeed, gaining a larger advertising share is the primary motive behind this acquisition--Los Angeles Times cites that $12 billion is spent on real estate advertising each year. Sissy Lappin, founder of ListingDoor.com, claims that Zillow seeks only to buy out its competition, not improve information accuracy. While neither Zillow nor Truila is profitable yet, Zillow hopes to save $100 million annually by cutting repetitive costs. It will be interesting for all parties involved to see how this deal changes the real estate playing field.

How to Avoid Buyer's Remorse

Jim Weiker, writer for The Columbus Dispatch, shares some survey results that could provide valuable lessons to buyers. A Trulia survey was issued this spring to 2,130 Americans. Here are the results:

52% of those surveyed expressed some regrets about their current residence

34% wish they had bought a bigger home
27% wish they had done more remodeling
22% wish they had known more about the home before deciding to buy it
18% wish they had put more money down
16% wish they had been more financially secure before buying.

Concerned about buying the right home? Contact me to see how I can help!

Must Have Real Estate Apps

Check out these must-have real estate apps to assist you in your home search--

• Keller Williams Realty mobile app. Features:

         -Customize search for nearby homes on the market

         -Customize search for available rental properties 

         -Open house search

         -Save searches and properties

         -Mortgage calculator

         -Directly contact agent options if interested in a property you see 

          How to get it: Search for “Keller Williams Realty” in the app store. Good news: it’s free! 

          Once you’ve installed it, you can search for an agent and enter his/her personal code. 

          Look for me, Jack Curtis, using my code: KW1M9M6DP 

• Chase Bank “My New Home” app. Features: 

           -Customize home search 
           -Take and store photos, videos and notes of your favorite homes
           -Estimate your monthly mortgage payments
           -Quickly access Chase mortgage bankers for help. 
           

            Visit chase.com/MyNewHome to download this free app.

• Realtor.com mobile app. Features:

          -Filter your search based on criteria such as price, size, age of home, and location. 

          -Limit your search to new listings and open houses. 

          -Zillow and Trulia, additional real estate websites, have similar mobile apps available. 

These tools create convenient, new ways to shop the housing market. They do not, however, eliminate the need for a Realtor! Realtors are expert negotiators with a valuable knowledge of the home-buying process and the many steps it involves. As an experienced professional I’d be happy to give you more information and guide you through the entire home-buying process. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

4 Stats Homebuyers Should Know

To have the most positive and successful homebuying experience, homebuyers should be as educated as possible about the market they are navigating. Knowing what you're getting into in advance will keep you from feeling too frustrated or overwhelmed. Trulia discusses four points that are good to know when searching for your new home:

1) The number of homes you'll lose before you win.
It's completely normal for buyers to lose out on a few homes before they are the prevailing bidder. When you lose a bid, move forward quickly in search of your next opportunity to make an offer. 

2) Average number of offers per listing.
Ask your agent about what is standard, in terms of competition levels, in the neighborhoods, price ranges, and property types you're looking for. In today's hot market, some people experience multiple offers, same-day sales, and above asking price offers. If this is the case where you are looking--you should know about it. 

3) Neighborhood "run rate."
A run rate mathematically tells you what home prices in an area would be in the future if the continued rate of rise continued for a year. While home price increases can be seasonal (with greater increases occuring in the spring and summer months), our market is still recovering from the recession, so it's quite possible that home price increases will continue to rise throughout the year.

4) Inventory rate and direction
How many houses are listed for sale, and is this number increasing or decreasing? If you're a more selective buyer with a long wish list, it may be hard to find your new home in a lower-than-average-inventory market such as the one we're experiencing today. Knowing this, you may have to sacrifice some of your "must haves" or up your budget. It's best to be realistic about what you can and cannot get in a certain area for a specified price. This will help you make well-timed, well-informed, competitive offers.

If you're not currently working with an agent, and would like to know more about these statistics pertaining to where you'd like to live, contact me. It would be my pleasure to help make your home buying experience easier and more enjoyable.