adayinthelife

New York Times recently published a great read on the 43 questions homebuyers should ask before picking a new town. The article suggests to home shoppers that rather than using a standard checklist of what to ask when looking for a place to live, a values audit could yield more happiness for less money. For example, homebuyers should read online forums from the town to sense the general values and opinions of their potential community. Seeing what attire moms or nannies pick their children up from school in, visiting the local psychologist, and viewing the books in the local library were some of the additional efforts the article suggested homebuyers carry out before selecting a new home or community. By creating and auditing this values checklist, homebuyers are not simply chasing the biggest home in the highest ranked area. They might save money and find a place that’s truly better for their lifestyle.

Imagine if realtors could create all of what this article supposes and really give someone a true flavor of what it’s like to live in a neighborhood. Increasingly more we see the importance of highlighting communities to home shoppers whether it’s through school ratings, commute times, or another set of data. As a data provider even I know that real estate professionals can’t fully illustrate every nook and cranny of an area with just stats, scores and rankings. There is a critical role to fulfill when it comes to painting the daily life of a community in ways data cannot.

Agents continue to worry about their role in the real estate transaction as well as their ongoing relevance. However, providing local expertise within the fair housing laws makes an agent extremely relevant and highly valuable, especially if they know how to bring many of the non-tangibles to life for a prospective buyer.

[Graphic via http://thatawesometvblog.files.wordpress.com/]