Saturday Reporter-Herald September 18, 2010 E1
Real Estate Matters
www.homeandrealtyguide.com • Saturday, September 18, 2010 • Reporter-Herald
No debt isn’t reason enough to buy ILYCE GLINK TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
Q
uestion: I’ve just graduated from graduate school with a degree in computer science. I’ve taken a job in a small town and am wondering whether I should rent or buy my first home. The thing is, I’ve been renting for so long that I really want to own something. The problem is that I’m not sure I’ll stay in this town for all that long. It’s possible that in two to three years, I’ll be transferred elsewhere with this company, or I’ll leave to move to a different company. It’s likely I won’t be in this town for the rest of my life. You should know that I’m debtfree. I don’t have any school loans, car loans or credit card debt. I’m just wondering if I should buy a house because interest rates are so low or if I should rent until I have a better sense of what’s going on with my professional career. What do you think? Answer: First, the fact that you’re debt-free is fantastic, especially considering you’re just out of graduate school. Congratulations, because that is a huge accomplishment. I understand that you’ve been renting for years. And now that you have the security of a full-time job, buying a home seems to make some sense. While it’s great to be able to buy a home, you have to be ready for it financially and emotionally. And, given the current state of the housing market, it would be very difficult to buy something if you don’t know where you’re going to want to live for the next five to seven years. At this stage of your life, you should think first about your career and what it takes to get ahead. If you think it’s likely that you’re going to move in the next two to three years, I can’t really recommend that you buy a house. Even if housing prices don’t decline further (as many economists believe they will), the cost of selling a property can be as much as 10 percent of the sales price. To break even, your home would have to appreciate 5 to 10 percent over the next couple of years, and I think that’s unlikely. It could happen, but it’s more likely that you’d have to move, which presents the probability that you would not recover all of the money you put into the purchase. The only way buying could work is to buy a house that’s really inexpensive (but still in a good neighborhood) and then fix it up. Even so, this isn’t as easy as it sounds and it
RE/MAX Alliance gets you online RH PAID ADVERTORIAL
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hen you finally make that big decision to purchase either your first or your next home, where is the first place you begin your home search? If you’re one of many typical homebuyers, you’re going to start by looking online. Statistics compiled from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2009 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers prove online marketing is one of the most crucial and effective ways to market your home. Each year, the NAR compiles detailed data, looking at what drives buyers and sellers in the marketplace. Last year’s findings reported that almost one-third of all buyers started their search by using the internet. Of this percentage, almost half of them were under the age of 44. Additionally, 9 out of 10 buyers last year reported using the internet at some point in their home search. The NAR’s 2009 Profile also found that internet users were able to search three times as many homes as those who did not utilize the internet in their search. The report also revealed that buyers who used the internet in their searches were also more likely to find other relevant resources important, such as yard signs, open houses, and engaging the expertise of a real estate agent. David Powell, managing broker
at RE/MAX Alliance in Loveland, said he feels like these are some very powerful statistics. “We’re definitely in a technology age where every other industry is online, so that is where real estate has to go, as well. With the large presence of the first-time home buyers that we’ve seen recently, this number is all that more important,” Powell said. Powell is referring to the other statistic compiled from the NAR’s 2009 profile, which is that first-time homebuyers made up 47 percent of all home buyers in 2009 — a figure which rose significantly from 2008. Powell adds that many of these first-time homebuyers are very technologically-adept, and having an online presence is a key factor for any real estate agent. “One of the things RE/MAX Alliance has been working on improving this past year is our web presence. Our website, www.homesincolorado.com underwent a drastic make-over to enable more user-friendly features — such as our home searching capabilities, online resources, and even mortgage information.” The regional RE/MAX Alliance website, www.homesincolorado .com is indeed proving its worth among the online community. Statistics from June 2010 revealed that www.homesin colorado.com outranks many other local real estate company websites in average weekly visitors, as well as average page
www.homesincolorado.com offers interior and exterior photos of each property and online scheduling for showings. views. Powell said he believes the high number of average page views is likely to be attributed to the website’s renovations of earlier this year. “This number shows us that people aren’t just going to our website, clicking on one link and then leaving,” he said. “It shows that people are actually using our website to really search for information, which is the main purpose of its existence.” The other component to RE/MAX Alliance’s online technology strategy is the many other sites that their homes are listed with. “When a homeowner lists their property with RE/MAX Alliance, he or she is getting their home posted on literally hundreds of other popular home search websites, giving their home the maxi-
mum amount of global exposure,” Powell said. These web sites include Trulia.com, Homefinder.com, Zillow.com, Homes.com, Yahoo.com, Google.com, Front door.com, and Overstock.com. Powell adds that some of these sites require a paid subscription by the listing agent, in order for that home to be featured on the site. Yet, every home listed by RE/MAX Alliance automatically is included on these subscriptiononly sites. “You really can’t stress enough how important it is to not only have a strong website for your company, but also to expose your company’s inventory in every avenue possible,” Powell said. That is a key component in the RE/MAX philosophy, Powell adds. “It’s all about providing the maximum service to our clients.”
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