Here’s How Buyers Can Still Win in Our Market

As a buyer in our market, it’s important to work with an agent who can get creative to find you the right home. Here’s an example of how our team does this.

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Everybody knows there is a shortage of inventory in the Bonneville County market, and we’re working with plenty of buyers who are pre-approved and ready to buy—all they need is the right home.

If you’re in the same position, you need to work with an agent and team who know how to get creative in order to find you the right home.

For example, on our team, we’re designing a program that reverse-markets our buyers to the community at large. With this program, we get the word out about who our buyers are and what they’re looking for so that potential sellers know about them.

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You need to work with an agent and team
who know how to get creative in order
to find you the right home.

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Additionally, since we have many agents on our team, we work with plenty of sellers in the same market and have our own in-house list of “coming soon” properties that are about to be listed. By working with us, you’d have the inside track to these listings and potentially the chance to buy them before anyone else.

In this way, our buyer program works to benefit our sellers as well. By the time your home is ready to be put on the market, we may already have several buyers who are interested in it and are qualified to purchase it.

If you have any more questions about how we help our buyers achieve their real estate goals or you have any other real estate needs at all, don’t hesitate to reach out to us or visit our website. We’d love to hear from you.

The Drawbacks of Using Zillow

While I have nothing against Zillow, there are a few problems with their Zestimate tool and the data they offer on homes listed on the market that you need to be aware of.

Want to Buy a Home? Search All Homes
Want to Sell a Home? Get a Home Value Report

Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, there are a couple drawbacks to using Zillow and their Zestimates that you need to be aware of.

First, I want to say that I’m not against Zillow. Their website is easy to use (I use it myself) and it does provide a lot of value for a lot of people out there. Their most valuable tool is their agent-finder tool. They’re in the business of working with agents and collecting reviews on those agents from consumers who’ve worked with them. If you want to learn more about the Anderson Group and the value we provide to our clients, I invite you to go on Zillow, use this agent-finding tool, and read our reviews.

Now, what is a Zestimate exactly? A Zestimate is an automated valuation tool you can use to get an estimation of a home’s worth. It gives a home’s valuation by compiling data of other comparable homes. There are a couple problems with this tool, though.

If you’re a seller in our Southwestern Idaho area, the first problem is the lack of data. Also, the owners of homes that are on Zillow can edit and update their own home’s information, so the data that Zillow does have regarding homes that are comparable to yours may be false.

Secondly, our area doesn’t have the number of home sales necessary to allow a valuation in a fully automated fashion. It requires hundreds and hundreds of homes to be able to remove the personal element and expertise out of the valuation process and calculate an accurate number for your home.

In fact, Zillow has their own disclaimer that states that their Zestimates are only typically within 15% to 20% of your home’s true value. That disparity can be worth as much as $80,000, so that’s not a valuation anyone can really trust. This is why you need the eyes and experience of a professional agent to help you figure out what your home is worth.

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You need the eyes and experience of a professional agent to help you figure out what your home is worth.

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In the meantime, if you want to use a home search website that’s updated in real time and connected to the MLS, head over to our site www.idahofallspropertysearch.com.

The fact that the data on Zillow isn’t current is an especially big challenge for buyers. Oftentimes, Zillow’s data is two or three days old. If you’re a buyer looking in the $175,000 range, many of those houses are sold within 48 hours of hitting the market.
 
If you’re trying to search and buy a home on your own, you’re typically at a disadvantage anyway, which is why it’s critically important that you work with a professional agent. In your case, work with an agent who’s experienced, who will go to bat for you, and works exclusively with buyers.