Browse the online real estate market today | columns

Real estate websites are attracting a lot of attention these days, and why? Back in the ‘good old days’, the buying process involved long road trips over several days, searching for homes with your favorite realtor. The process was fun, but it took an incredibly long time for the buyers! Today, the home search process has become simplified and comprehensive. Buyers can access available properties instantly, and can view detailed listing information, high-resolution photos, and virtual tours. Home sellers also benefit greatly from property search sites because an extensive national and international network of potential buyers have instant access to their home features, photos, videos and Matterport tours. Many real estate web platforms today offer a large variety of useful tools, including map-based and advanced searches, email alerts for property, comparable sales, city/city demographics, community pages, and a plethora of regional data and real estate insight.

At Roche Realty Group, we provide a global offering to our reseller clients by promoting their properties on more than 80 locations locally and internationally. In addition, approximately 1,500 IDX Single Agent and Brokerage websites automatically aggregate our listings by participating in the Northern New England Real Estate Network.

Here’s a look at some of the popular sites out there:

● Founded in 2006, Zillow has built the largest online real estate marketplace, with approximately 135 million properties (including “for sale by owner” homes), and over 36 million visitors per month. While Zillow’s “Zestimates” are a popular feature, they’re based on algorithms that don’t always translate well into the uniqueness of rural lakes. As a result, these Zestimates can be very misleading and it is wise for the consumer to check with an experienced realtor or appraiser as to the real property value. Zillow earns revenue by charging brokers and lenders for leads. As such, the agents displayed in the “Contact” area may not necessarily be the listing agent.

● Realtor.com was founded in 1996 and is now operated by Move, Inc. , a subsidiary of News Corp. The website is associated with the National Association of Realtors®. This national website links to hundreds of multi-regional listing services (which are regularly updated by listing agents). Similar to Zillow.com, brokers pay an advertising fee to get leads. In contrast, Realtor.com does not give consumers the option to search for “sales by owner” listings. The accuracy of the site is very good!

● Founded in 2005, this site was purchased by Zillow in 2015. Visitors can search for directions and neighborhood insights. The website offers neighborhood assessments as well as customizable geographic searches. You can save your searches if you create an account. Trulia has a great mobile app for buyers.

● This premium website has been recognized for excellence by the WMA and Webby Awards and has been voted “Best on the Internet” by Forbes magazine multiple times. Luxuryrealestate.com has been consistently ranked as the #1 portal for luxury real estate on the Internet.

● The official Northern New England MLS website, NNEREN is the main database where New England real estate professionals and affiliates directly enter their listings. The site offers searches for homes, condominiums, multi-family properties, mobile homes, land, commercial properties, and rentals. Many listing agents post open house information on NNEREN.

● These sites list commercial, industrial and investment properties and land for sale or rent. The New England Commercial Property Exchange portal provides a wide range of commercial information and a ‘Wants/Needs’ section posted by members.

● A regional website that provides news and information regarding Boston and its surrounding areas. It is owned by Boston Globe Media Partners. The real estate section includes NH real estate listings.

● Since 1973, Homes & Land has simplified the home search by connecting home buyers with trusted experts in their communities. The site has interesting blog articles and is easy to use. Their popular real estate magazine covers are distributed in 150 US and Canadian markets. In addition to their print publications, free digital editions of their magazine are available for viewing online.

● On this vast site, you will find apartments, houses and condominiums for rent in your area. Compare current prices and availability, view HD videos, photos, pet policies and more.

● This national website has more traffic, listings, and geographic coverage than any other commercial real estate market, with over 5 million visitors per month.

● Google is the most comprehensive and expansive search engine on Earth, providing information about the world at your fingertips. With Google, you can easily find every single real estate website, and search for resources related to your real estate interests. Google has 2,4605253 followers on Linkedin only! You can search for unlimited types of properties on Google, and the vast majority of consumers start searching on Google. A quick search will direct you to your desired destination in seconds.

National websites like Zillow and Realtor.com excel as a national database, but your local brokerage sites really stand out because they provide a pulse and a wealth of information on the local market, with searches tailored to the region. They also provide tremendous insight through their blogs.

With Google, you can target specific searches with keywords related to Lake District real estate. At Roche Realty Group, we’ve focused our marketing program and our ability to search around multiple sites; However, our presence on Google.com has always been critical. We have invested heavily in search engine optimization, digital advertising and social media marketing to reach a wider audience and ensure that consumers nationwide have access to the information we provide at www.rocherealty.com.

In short, as a buyer or seller, you can benefit from exploring all the above sites to get as much information as possible about the current market and regional trends. Each site has something unique to offer, and you can benefit from all of them!

THis article was written by Frank Roach. Frank is the president of the Roche Realty Group which has offices in Meredith and Laconia, New Hampshire, and can be reached at 603-279-7046. Feel free to visit www.rocherealty.com to learn more about the Lake District and its real estate market.