Friday, March 27, 2015

What did Zillow do to deserve this?



What does  Zillow do for real estate agents and for buyers and sellers of
 homes for sale, land , and rental properties?
Well, for me  as  a  Florida Realtor in Jacksonville, Saint Johns County, Nocatee and Jacksonville Beach, it has many good points.  



For buyers it can provide a quick easy way to be alerted to newly listed properties, and see market trends, and even get connected with a good Realtor. Its mobile interface is second to none.

For Sellers, it can provide a way to gain additional exposure for buyers in the market . The listing agent needs to make sure the homes' info is prominently and correctly displayed to achieve proper positioning on websites like Zillow and other websites(ie Realtor.com)

For agents, it provides a way to get into a conversation with both buyers and sellers, and explain how the data affects  the price and market for the home they wish to buy or sell.  Although many agents  don’t appreciate the way Zillow presents its aggregation of data, it creates buzz for the agent and the seller.  Frankly I think it’s the agents Egos that won’t allow them to see any positive transparent process as a huge plus. For me, its just another tool in my toolkit. A way to help sellers and buyers feel more comfortable and confident about one of their biggest decisions. 

When Zillow corporate was in town two weeks ago speaking to a few area agents , the speaker, Betty Lee, chuckled and said, in regards to complaints about prices being lower or higher than what the MLS listing had them for sale at, what good agents already know—“it’s a Zestimate, not a Zaccurate or Zappraisal”


 My Zillow Profile

Either way, I'm not going to let anyone's opinion get in the way of my doing a great job for my customers.

Dont believe me?...give me a call, and Ill answer.

904-465-2212


Sunday, November 9, 2014

What does "seasonally adjusted" mean for Real Estate Prices

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty
This is a great article I ran across helping to explain this.  Unfortunately, since real estate is seasonal, its something we can't ignore, so I am always wondering why we don't as Realtors use the actual numbers.

Heres what NAR said on Realtor.org:

Seasonal Adjustment-Annualized Rate

It is necessary to “annualize” and seasonally-adjust the existing home sales data so that month-to-month and quarter-to-quarter comparisons can be observed without seasonal variances distorting the overall picture.
The annual rate for a particular month represents what the total number of sales for a year would be if the relative pace for that month were maintained for 12 consecutive months. Seasonal adjustments, which are determined by using the X-11 Variant created by the Census Bureau, are then used to factor out seasonal variances in resale activity. For example, home sales in the winter months are generally much slower than sales in the summer months, primarily because of differences in weather. These disparities tell us little about actual trends in the housing market because they are mostly a result of seasonal variances. Therefore, we need to remove seasonal variances and create an annualized rate to gain a greater perspective on how the resale market is performing. Seasonally-adjusted annualized figures are reported for both our monthly and quarterly reports.  Here is the link:  http://www.realtor.org/topics/existing-home-sales/methodology

Thursday, July 24, 2014

I am a licensed Real Estate Broker, and  a Realtor, operating out of the Jacksonville MSA, since 1996.
My goal  is to provide commentary regarding the business life of a Realtor / Real Estate Salesperson in Jacksonville, Florida,  the state of our market here, and along the way to afford insight and a glance into my day,with the intention of providing information that the reader may find useful if they are buying, selling , or investing in real estate in Jacksonville.  I also intend to let you know about my active listings as they come available, and those can also be found on my website listed below in my contact details.


Russ Goodman
Realtor, Broker-Associate
Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Partners
904-465-2212
www.sellsjacksonville.com