Looking to buy or sell a home in Northern Virginia? Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call us at (703) 636-3588 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.
The National Association of Realtors says that 90% of home buyers begin their home search online. The same is true for sellers, who try to determine an accurate price for their home by searching for similar homes online. There are a lot of advantages in doing this, but there are also huge disadvantages with using these websites.
The most commonly used websites are Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. Have you ever wondered why these websites exist? They exist to make money, and they are making money off of you and your data. When you register for these websites, they take your information, compile it, and then sell it to Realtors who are looking for leads. They sell zip codes to real estate agents all across the country just from the information that you freely provide them.
The major disadvantage of these websites to you is that their information is simply inaccurate. Their goal is to show as many homes as possible, and that means that they will post homes that are listed, under contract, and also properties that have already been sold. These websites also estimate the value of homes, and these estimates are wildly inaccurate. Zillow will actually tell you how accurate their home prices are if you scroll down to the bottom of the page. When I did this, Zillow actually told me that their home prices for the Washington DC area were 90% wrong! That is huge.
The only way to ensure that you're getting accurate information is to pick up the phone and call a real estate agent such as myself. We have access to accurate and updated listings that websites cannot offer you. As soon as a property comes onto the market, we can send it to you so that you have the best chance of getting the home that you want.
If you're interested in purchasing a home in Northern Virginia, Maryland, or Washington DC, then please call me at 703-636-3588. I would be more than happy to sit down and discuss your individual needs.
