Selling Real Estate Is About Selling Data

A few years ago, selling a home was all about selling whatever the prettiest, shiniest listing that someone could afford was. It was easy, put a sign in a yard, and it would sell.

Today is a different age.

The downtick in the economy and market has made everyone more cautious. They now spend countless hours researching homes before they contact an agent. The client, in many cases, unfortunately, knows more about market conditions in a neighborhood or subdivision than an agent does. They’ve visited sites like Zillow and have gotten down to finding out information about living in neighborhoods, potential increases (or decreases) in value they can expect over the next 1, 3, and 5 years. They’ve compared short term time owning a home with renting. They’ve considered staying put in their house because the value might be a whole lot worse than they thought.

The problem is, that data isn’t always accurate when it comes from outside sources. Zillow, admittedly, does mark on a page, albeit deep within their website, that they have data inaccuracies.

The thing is, clients crave data, and it’s up to us as Realtors to provide better data.

I’m currently sitting here in the lobby of the Hilton, San Francisco, anxiously awaiting the begining of the first ever Inman Data Summit. Instead of a general focus on real estate, the summit focuses on the key areas of information within the process of transacting real estate. I’m excited because we’re here to discuss better data, more responsible use of data, and great new products that could be made if data was more freely distributed within our industry. The question I pose is two fold, why in a data related industry are there so few events catering to this? And why is it that the attendees of these events are almost all vendors. Why do I not see on the list more brokerages and agents?

At Tribus, we think providing up to date market data on your site is one of the three most important things you can do. Instead of clients getting potentially very wrong data on sites like Zillow, etc. Why aren’t you providing that information?

Take a look of an example of the kind of data we can offer clients: Oklahoma City Real Estate Market Stats

Let’s make agents and brokerages the provider of up to date information. Be a resource that clients are looking for, and provide them a reason to believe and trust in you as a professional.

CEO | Director of Strategy
With over 20 years experience in the real estate industry, including being a Realtor and Broker / Owner, Stegemann brings a wealth of knowledge to this job as CEO of TRIBUS. He focuses his time on helping brokers enhance and expand their business and working with the TRIBUS labs team to consider what's next in real estate.
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