Innovation has likewise prevailed in the real estate business. Nowadays, many real estate search tools have started offering convenience to homebuyers. RealtyBiz has described that it is even possible to buy a property without ever setting foot in it.
RealtyBiz shared that these tools used include virtual tours of office buildings and condos, home buying algorithms for investors and digital walkthroughs for foreign buyers. It further describes that according to a new SurveyMonkey study sponsored by Redfin, for the past two years, one in five Americans have made an offer on a house they have never set foot in.
This data from the Redfin poll was based on a survey of 2,100 recent buyers. The study has likewise found out that those buying luxury homes in the range of $750,000+ were the most common to make a bid blind, with 53 percent of buyers belonging in that range admitting they have done such an act. Another group of buyers who are likely to purchase a house unseen were millennials, with 30 percent of them claiming they made an offer on a home they had ever actually and physically visited.
It is not to compare the stats with purchases made within the historical norms, but what is clearly illustrated here is that it is no longer surprising for younger people to be comfortable searching for, and buying a home, through the use of online tools, especially if they plan to settle in another city for work. As of now, it is not so clear yet why the wealthier buyers opt to buy homes sight unseen, but one speculation to have is that such properties have more affluent marketing plans and such includes digital walkthrough.
Aside from this trend of buying homes without stepping foot in them, another revelation in this Redfin survey is that buyers choose companies like Redfin over traditional real estate agents. Here are some more of the survey's highlights:
17 percent of people who bought a home in the past two years did it without an agent with 37 percent saying they did not need one because they knew the seller personally.
13 percent of people who sold a home in the past two years did so without the help of an agent, with 61 percent claiming they want to save money.
37 percent of people who bought homes with non-Redfin agents claimed their agent helped them save more than $500 through a refund or other type of contribution.
64 percent of the respondents are open to having an alternative to the traditional real estate service, while 21 percent prefer the way traditional agents work.
73 percent of the respondents like the idea of saving money on real estate commissions and believe real estate cans still be more efficient, while 14% are worried that saving money would mean a lower quality of service.
71 percent of people who bought or sold a home with Redfin say they would recommend their agent to a friend or colleague, compared to 49 percent of people who bought or sold a house through an agent from other brokerage.
