5 Great Sites to Help You Better Understand This Crazy Market
For real estate buyers right now it’s a crazy time. The fear of making the wrong decision can be paralyzing at times, so having access to information is critical.
I thought I’d share some of the tools I’ve been using in my own search.
What’s Happening on the Ground?
Trulia generates its reports from its internal database of property listings (most of which are pulled from its relationships with real estate brokers). Inventory is admittedly incomplete, but it’ll give you a good sense of the trajectories of the local markets.
Cyberhomes, on the other hand, gets its data from its records on over
100 million US properties. Their neighborhood overviews are a little slow to load but can give you a overview of what a zip code is doing and see the overall direction of the market.
Get the Big Picture?
Altos Research
Altos reports are real time market intelligence that deep dive in to what’s really going on in your market, right now. As a buyer, you can also get a snapshot of the trends in any given market. Altos founder Mike Simonsen claims their reports lead the Case/Shiller Index by three months.
Foreclosures
Understanding the volume of foreclosures, bank owned properties and auctions that are hitting your is key to gauging where prices might be headed in your local market.
The 800lb gorilla in the foreclosure space. RealtyTrac has a fantastic amount of information despite a clunky web site. There is a monthly charge to have access to this data – but it’s well worth it, especially if you’re looking at these opportunities seriously.
California buyers may want to look at ForeclosureRadar, a “professional grade” search tool that tracks all foreclosure activity in the state. Designed mostly for Realtors and investors, it’s a fantastic tool that gives you unparalleled data and analysis. Too bad it’s not available outside of the Golden State, yet.
Bonus – Find Homes on Auction
Also, if you’re interested in getting homes at auction, check out Zetabid.com. Right now they are running auctions in California, Florida and Illinois.
5 Comment(s)
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- From Top 8 Real Estate Articles of 2008 « Life as Real Estate Investors | Dec 31, 2008
- From 47 Real Estate Investment Blogs | HomeEquityLoan.net | Jun 29, 2010
Reggie from Cyberhomes | Nov 18, 2008 | Reply
Hey Joel-
Its true having access to the right information is critical to making well-informed decisions. Here at Cyberhomes we are always focused on data accuracy. We also take great pride in the way we present that data; as you can see by the redesign this last year.
Happy to hear that you like what you see!
Reggie
John Daugherty Realtors | Nov 19, 2008 | Reply
Remember that these sites are not always completely accurate. It is best to use them as tools in addition to the help of a real estate professional. They can steer you n the right direction, but do not always contain accurate and up to date information. As always, the internet holds a wealth of valuable information, and the more research you can do, the better.
Kevin Schmidtchen | Nov 29, 2008 | Reply
I think all of these sites are useful in their own ways. This just continues to give consumers more tools which is great.
Ultimately a smart consumer takes this information and works with a quality real estate agent that is on top of the market and knows what they are doing. Especially in smaller resort town such as Santa Barbara and Montecito CA. Here if you just rely on only what you see from such sites as mentioned(somewhat incomplete information), you will almost surely make a mistake. This information is a good starting point but don’t make any decisions on just what you see here.
blog: http://www.SantaBarbaraRealEstateVoice.com
buenos aires apartments | Jan 17, 2009 | Reply
Do you know any International Real Estate Information Database website?
info info antelope | Jun 6, 2010 | Reply
These sites are really great with big exposure of real estate industry.