Where parked my guests if I buy a house in San Francisco? Is it worth the daily commute to San Francisco to live in Palo Alto? What is the normal price of a parking space in Pacific Heights? " These questions, along with their answers, are a small sample of common content in the latest batch of real estate scripts that have signed up to new trends of what has been called Web 2.0: a whole fresh and revolutionary way of understanding what is Internet and how to harness the full potential of Network communication user is asking or answering other users in a common meeting point: the real estate script, which is converted by the constant feed of content from their visitors and the integration of information and functionality from other portals in a potent tool in the service of a more informed decision purchase or sale in the largest business transaction that most people usually carry along his life that related to your home.
But... what is Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 is the term coined in 2004 by Tim O'Reilly to describe a second generation of web sites characterized by greater interaction with and among users, which aims to facilitate creativity, collaboration and information sharing among users. It refers both to a new language or to a new protocol, but a new way of understanding the web and benefiting from all its features.
If the first generation websites were characterized by a centralized creation and dissemination of content, the company decided it wanted to include on their websites, creating content and functionality, and published their pages through a web host disseminate them, at most, through newsletters and bulletins, web 2.0 sites are characterized mainly by the integration of content and functionality of other portals (eg Google Maps, Google Earth, YouTube, etc.). and because users take on a role protagonist have multiple ways to generate feedback or feedback that is integrated as additional content in the actual development of the website, enriching it.
The creator of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, disagrees with the concept of Web 2.0 because, he argues, all these potentials were present in the concept of network communication that gave birth to the Web as we know it today. Were the companies said, they moved to the Web a traditional one-way communication model that largely untapped possibilities of the new medium. Indeed, firms in the economy and cement larillos (brick & mortar) Accessed the Internet reduces the role of their websites to a mere showcase on line the same offer communicated via other means off line: TV, newspaper, radio, outdoor advertising, direct marketing... but that did not use all the potential of the Web: multidirectional communication, and information integration capabilities, data sharing between users...
It has taken several years of experimentation, a boom and subsequent crash of dotcom and perhaps a whole new generation of professionals whose careers have developed since the beginning with the Internet as part of integrated scenario management positions in companies, so that finally we got to really understand what they mean by concepts like "network communication "and we began to see the development of business models that capitalize on that potential.
The value of the environment
We are back to the misconception discussed two paragraphs ago. The focus on real estate portals giving information about the property itself, neglecting the fundamental aspects like the environment. Own perspective is a manufacturer of a vision: who makes a product usually is felt as proud of their product that believes that only highlight its many virtues should be enough to convince potential customers of its benefits. However, this view forgets that people acquire goods or services according to benefits, tangible or intangible, we expect that these products or services we provide. That is, do not buy by the technical characteristics of products, but for the benefits or value that these products are going to bring.
In the case of buying a home, it is important whether it is a townhouse or an apartment, buy a villa or whether we will settle for a flat. But no less important to know how to be our neighbors, how I may move to my place of work or, if I have children of school age, between which schools may choose to carry them. Therefore, since important information is collected on the potential buyer the home itself, and on the developer to know the level of confidence that you deserve, or even financial guarantee their payments, it is equally all data that can discover about the environment, about what it's going to bring, as his social life, their children, their quality of life and, ultimately, the enjoyment of housing will depend on both the environment and the house itself.
This is what they have discovered real estate portals like pioneers in what we term as Web 2.0 Trulia.com, Zillow.com Biggerpockets.com or. A visit to any of them opens a world of information that seems light years away from everything we've seen so far. The paradigm shift is threefold:
o Firstly, these sites comprise a vast amount of information presented in an orderly, logical and connected, allowing users to form an idea of how a neighborhood can be determined in a multitude of variables.
o Second, the portals provide a multitude of information to know whether the price asked by a building bears a proper relationship with the actual characteristics of the price compared to sales of similar homes in the environment in recent months. Many have even what has been the evolution of the average sales price per square meter in the area.
o On the other hand, the users of the portal players and become content contributors with questions and answers. They are the people who live in certain places know best what are the advantages and disadvantages, problems or opportunities to buy there and now. So the first hand information from a source more credible and impartial apparently it does not conceal business interests and responds to real questions from potential buyers is used to make more informed purchasing decisions and informed choices.
Let's look first at what level can access information with the new breed of real estate portals.
The new real estate script portals:
We entered Trulia.com. We seek a home in Plano, Texas. This is a typical residential town in the north of Dallas. We chose one of the houses at random. In the very form of housing, we see what has been the evolution of prices for that neighborhood (bounded by houses that share the same postal district) in recent months. We can even compare average sales prices for homes of 1, 2, 3 or 4 bedrooms in closed sales in recent months. And we can also see a graph of developments in the price of housing for the city of Plano since 2000 until today. Obviously, if buying a home is done in part or in total investment reasons, this is a fact that we definitely want to meet.
We can also see the evolution in the average price per square meter, changes in the number of sales and what have been the most popular neighborhoods in recent months.
If we have children, information on available schools will be key to making a purchase decision. Trulia.com can see the level of schools in this district postal comparing the level of district schools on the level of the state average according to the TAKS standards in both English and math.
The panorama of the neighborhood is complete with a statistical table whose data are so extensive that make us feel a certain shamelessness. For example, we know the average income per household, per capita income, the average value of each property and applied the average price in homes offered for sale. All these data also compared the average of the state. So, we know that only a 2.44% state income below $ 10,000 annually while 8.39% confess win over $ 200,000 a year, for example.
Trulia.com also allows us to access crime statistics for Plano and we discover that we would have a 3.35% chance to be a crime against property (4.08% statewide) or 0.29% of suffering a violent crime (a 0.32% for the whole state of Texas). Of course, we know these figures broken down, if you allow us the courage to know the possibilities that we would have to suffer a burglary, a violent assault, murder, rape or theft of vehicle decided to settle in the neighborhood.
Turning to more mundane topics, Trulia.com informs us that a 10.41% of the residents of Plano take 45 minutes to an hour to get to work. About 50% take less than 25 minutes and 7%, more than an hour. Almost all of them travel to their workplaces driving his own vehicle.
Trulia.com rounds this flood of data featuring a complete directory with links to local area maps, attractions, parks and recreation areas, census data, statistics and studies about the area, community organizations, issues related to the environment and local government, schools and other educational institutions, and references to the media, press and radio.
The integration of information from the users themselves as well as real estate agents with interests in the region comes through Trulia Voices: this is where the potential buyer has the possibility to leave your question to another user with the necessary information can answer. Thus, the users themselves become major generators of information and high value-added content, and high credibility, to the portal.
If you Trulia.com seems overwhelming, do not miss the chance to come by Zillow.com. It has an amazing integration of maps, to the point that it can provide not only the aerial view of almost any home, much like Google Maps, but also a perspective view from any angle. One of the most striking features is the concept of Zillow.com Zestimates: this is an estimate of the appraised value of a home. Thus, one can enter your own neighborhood and find out what is the approximate market price of your home not only... But that of all its neighbors! Indeed, the aerial view all homes listed with the corresponding estimate of price-Zestimate-overlay.
Zillow.com also does a great job in submitting alternative proposals for any home that interests us, allowing comparison with other similar benefit of their environment.
Unlike Trulia.com, Zillow.com qualitative data gives us some very interesting environment: for example, percentage of single, married, divorced and widowed in the neighborhood. Percentage of homes in which children live and where not, and the distribution of population by age ranges (pyramid of local residents) and also, Trulia.com, the average time of commuting to the workplace.
Other data that may be of interest are the ethnic composition of the population, the degree of training achieved (primary, secondary, graduate, graduate, postgraduate) and the type of work you do: executives, engineering, administrative, sales... Thus, a query about the type of people who live in Plano, Tex. says that often lead to work alone, that a large number of them have a master's degree and tend to have high income.
Zillow.com including direct contact with neighbors in the area of consultation to which we can question what I want to know: from the quality of schools, to shopping centers or parking problems.
Zillow.com Another striking aspect is its concept "Make me move" These are people who are not yet intending to sell your home, be willing to do so whenever they make an attractive enough offer.
Just some of the most striking aspects of next-generation real estate script: basic information of the home, of course. Complete with drawings, building specifications, descriptions and photographs. But all integrated with a comprehensive information environment, with reliable data on changes in the housing market each district level and the ability to interact in real time with people living in these places and can be a source of unbiased, credible and helpful.
Therefore, we believe this new type of portal will set a trend in the short or medium term, is also copied here. Maybe not so much by national portals, but for Europe-wide real estate portals aimed at increasing the floating population will bring in the future social mobility data of the Old Continent to which are common in the United States. In this new scenario, it is clear that the type of information that potential buyers will demand will be much more related to Web 2.0 that brings the traditional portals we've seen so far.
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