I don't think it comes as any suprise that the Internet has become a primary information source for people buying a home. In fact, 87% of all home buyers and 94% of buyers aged 25-44 used the Internet to search for homes in 2008. But searching and buying are two different things…where did buyers find the homes they actually bought?
According to statistics compiled by the National Association of Realtors, nearly 1/3 of buyers found the home they bought on the Internet…and looking at the steep upward slope of the blue Internet buyers in the chart below that percentage is likely to keep climbing.
About the same percentage of buyers found their home through their real estate agent…which means about 2/3 of buyers found the home they bought either through the Internet or their Realtor. Since brokers share listings in our market, all MLS listings are readily available online on all the major Twin Cities realty sites…not so in many other markets throughout the country! This means that in our market many homes buyers found through their Realtor were also likely Internet related…meaning Internet exposure is vital to selling a home in this market!
In fact, I have a listing closing this week where the buyer's agent told me one of the reasons these buyers found and decided to buy this home (in multiple offers) even though Mrs. Buyer hadn't seen it yet was because they liked what they saw on the Internet!
What about the sources for the other third of homes buyers purchased? The effectiveness of print ads has declined significantly to 3% as Internet use has risen, but other sources haven't changed much in the last seven years…yards signs/open houses at 15%; friends, relatives or neighbors at 8%; and home builder or builder's agent also at 8%.
Regardless of where they found the homes they bought, 81% of buyers used a real estate agent to help them purchase it…the homebuying process is much more complex than just finding a home and a Realtor in Minnesota also provides legal representation!
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results – Email – Website
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