Buyer, Beware When Searching for a Home

OklaHomes Realty wants potential home buyers to be aware of changes in industry.

Kathy Geyer, sales associate, and Allen Stout, broker/owner of OklaHomes Realty, Inc., look over a recent listing on their website. Stout’s company is celebrating 25 years in the real estate business.

Searching for the right home for your family’s needs can be stressful, especially if you don’t have accurate information or a real estate agent who cares about you. That’s where Allen Stout, broker/owner, and his sales associates at OklaHomes Realty, Inc. live up to their company motto: “A friend you can trust in real estate.”

“Home buyers, as well as sellers, need to understand what is happening in the industry right now,” says Stout. “With online residential real estate sites like Zillow and Trulia, potential home buyers can be misled by inaccurate information at these sites, especially Zillow.”

According to Stout, Zillow gathers information from realtors’ listings and inputs it into their database. However, several factors need to be considered because the information is not updated frequently, meaning a listing may have sold the year before but is still listed at the Zillow site. “This can be frustrating for the person searching for a home. It’s better, and saves time for a buyer, if he will start with Realtor.com or better yet, go straight to our website or their favorite realtor’s website.”

Stressing accuracy of information about listings, Stout added, “Zillow’s estimate about a house’s worth also does not take into account knowledge of the area where the home is located.”
Sales Associate Kathy Geyer agrees. “I had to deal with this problem when a client found a local listing on Zillow. Zillow had underestimated the worth of the house because they had no knowledge of the neighborhood and other information that is necessary for making an accurate assessment of a property’s worth. Because my client did not want to budge from Zillow’s estimate, they lost out on being able to purchase the property. They refused to recognize that the number Zillow quoted did not accurately reflect local information.”

How does this happen? “They don’t always investigate the facts or take the time to do so, such as the condition and age of the home, the neighborhood, and whether the property is in foreclosure or not. These factors impact a house’s value that Zillow does not take into account because it can go either way, meaning a house can be worth more or less than what their website states,” she adds.

Stout adds, “They seem to have their own formula for determining the value of property, but it’s not always very accurate. This not only impacts the buyer but should concern the seller as well.”
In addition, when a potential buyer searches Zillow or Trulia, Stout says, “You have to create an account and give them personal information.” What this can lead to, he adds, “is that your personal information, including your income, can legally be sold to other parties.”
On the OklaHomes website, a buyer can search anonymously. “Even better,” says Stout, “you can search via your computer or with our mobile app.”

    Stout’s concern for potential home buyers boils down to helping people understand what they can expect to get from real estate searches. “Do you want accurate information? If so, it’s best to use a reliable website and choose a REALTOR® who has your best interests at heart.”

For more information, contact

OklaHomes Realty, Inc.

www.oklahomes.com
 

About Author Carol Beck-Round

After 30 years in public school education, Carol Round retired and moved from Grand Lake to Claremore, Oklahoma in 2005, where she writes a weekly faith-based column which runs in 14 Oklahoma newspapers as well as several national and international publications. Three volumes of her columns have been compiled into collections: A Matter of Faith, Faith Matters and by FAITH alone. She has also written Journaling with Jesus: How to Draw Closer to God and a companion workbook, The 40-Day Challenge. This past year she has written three children’s books, a series called Nana’s 3 Jars, to teach children about the value of giving, saving and spending money. All of Carol’s books are available through Amazon. In addition to writing her weekly column, authoring books and speaking to women’s groups, she writes for Value News. She also blogs regularly at www.carolaround.com. When she is not writing or speaking, she loves spending time with her three grandchildren, working in her flowerbeds, shooting photos, volunteering at her church or going on mission trips overseas, and hiking. She is also an avid reader and loves working crosswords and trying to solve Sudoku puzzles.