Survey Reveals What Buyers want from Real Estate Agents

Do you know what those buying a home really want to today and how they are shopping for homes?

A new survey by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) blasts away some common misconceptions about what is most important for those buying a home today, how they are shopping for homes and what they want from real estate agents.

This is crucial information, not just for real estate agents but for real estate investors and average homeowners trying to sell a home too.

If you want to know the best way to advertise a home, attract home buyers and the best neighborhoods to invest in take a look at the following 10 highlights revealed in the 2012 NAR survey…

1. 90% of people buying a home continue to use the web to start their searches
2. Only 10% of home buyers looked at FSBO websites
3. 2012 was 2^nd year in a row more buyers found their home on the web before buying
4. 91% of those using the internet in a search used a real estate agent to close the deal
5. 40% of home buyers still found an agent through a referral, not on the web
6. Just 10% used an agent they used before; signaling poor performance or follow up
7. 50% worked with an agent to find the right home, vs. just 12% for help in negotiations
8. ‘Neighborhood quality’ was the #1 deciding factor in where to buy, beating out affordability, convenience of location or proximity to family
9. 61% of those buying a home only contacted one real estate agent before choosing
10. The most important factor in choosing a Realtor was reputation

Have you been working in the right direction or do you have major work to do in re-tweaking your real estate marketing, investment strategy and priorities?