John Hansen Port Townsend Real Estate

SEARCHING

FORGET GIMMICKS. BUYERS AND SELLERS WANT THE DATA.

There is a flood of information available on the web. Over 80% of buyers begin their search for a new home on the internet. Here's my guide to which sites are the most useful.

WHAT DO I RECOMMEND FOR REAL ESTATE SEARCHING AND GOOD DATA?

JohnLScott.com is an excellent way to search for regional and local property . Many people have told me they use it and especially appreciate the Virtual Earth Interactive map feature. It's a great place to search the entire Pacific Northwest . It comprehensively includes all NWMLS listings and updates them frequently. You can save favorites, refine your searches, and see Sold properties among many other user-friendly features.

NowPortTownsend.com organizes the widest available, current, local real estate data in formats that are easy to use and which help make your search more productive. The Port Townsend quick links mean you can see the basics easily. The map based searches present the information in a rich visual display. Deeper searches with chosen parameters are quick and flexible. I hope you will choose to bookmark it as a favorite for real estate.

Most people benefit from working with a full service Realtor like me because of my negotiating skills and knowledge of the local market. Once you've gathered enough data to know you want to buy or sell contact me to take the next step.

WHICH NATIONAL SITES OFFER INTERESTING DATA AND DECENT SEARCHS?

Which of the many other real estate websites are useful? Here are my opinions and links to the sites. One caution: When a site offers a value for a home it can be quite inaccurate. If you want to know the market value of your home contact a Realtor for a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). Let me know if you have suggestions or further opinions.

Realtor.com is the National Association of Realtors user friendly website. It has an interactive map search and when I looked for a value for my own home it showed me a map of my neighborhood, listed a bunch of nearby properties and told me my home was worth between $150,000 and $395,000, a very wide range, and that I should contact a Realtor to get a market analysis. That's good advice. Realtor.com seems functional and easy to use.

Zillow.com is a Seattle based home valuation site with a system for calculating current value of all homes whether they are for sale or not. I've been checking Zillow to see what info they have on my own home here in Port Townsend and since mid 2006 they have had nothing so they may not be especially useful in our market. Their values, even in Seattle, range widely. They have an interesting knowledge base called "Real Estate Wiki" that seems worthwhile. Go to their site, type in an address, check out what's there and then come back to NowPortTownsend.com.

Trulia.com seems to have a user friendly way of searching for listings. They offer a lot of data. They use, and offer a download of, Google Earth maps which are really excellent. Trulia seems to be easy to use and has some interesting blogs to investigate. Again, the information for Port Townsend has been limited since mid-2006 but that is likely to change.

Google is offering all kinds of new services including a home search. Check out Google Base Beta. This is a Google map based search engine that offers easy access to many listings. Because the map system is good it could be a solid resource in the future.

Check out Craigslist and type in 'Port Townsend' in the 'search for' window. Craigslist offers nearly everything for sale including real estate. It's one alternative venue when looking for a home or land. It does not have a comprehensive data base of listed homes but it does include many FSBO listings.

WHICH OTHER REALTORS HAVE USEFUL SITES?

There are many good individual Realtor sites on the web. I'm sure you have found some good ones. My recommendations here are limited to these criteria: Local Realtors whose sites offer unique information about our local communities; Regional Realtors who offer a unique site with information that may be useful to someone coming to our regional area.

My colleague, Linda Foard, has sites which offer information about Cape George and Kala Point .

Alex Bautista is a former software engineer who has become a Realtor in Olympia. His sites offer two useful things: Relocation information for people coming from out of state and well organized search tools for the South Puget Sound area.

HOW ABOUT THE PORT TOWNSEND REAL ESTATE OFFICES?

I recognize that when you are searching for real estate in Port Townsend you are likely to be aware of the other offices in town. Here are links to the websites for Port Townsend's larger offices including my office, John L Scott Port Townsend.

John L. Scott Port Townsend

Windermere.com

Windermere Port Townsend

Remax.com

Coldwell Banker Town and Country

WANT MORE SEARCH SITES? OR HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH?

There are a lot of other real estate websites out there and I don't pretend to know about them all. Some are clunky to use, some are "sticky", they want you to sign up with them before they let you see good info. I'm always interested in sites that people really use and that provide good information easily. Let me know if you have some favorites. That's what we're trying to do here at NowPortTownsend.com: give you useful information to make your move easier. Here is an un-reviewed list of a few other real estate related websites:

www.homepages.com

www.redfin.com

www.loopnet.com/Washington/Port-Townsend

What does USA Today have to say about the big national sites? Here is a February 17, 2007article from Realtor magazine online.

What are the Best Real Estate Web Sites?
About 80 percent of buyers use the Internet to help find a home, according to research by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. To help get the most out of their Web search, USA Today reviewed the top 10 most popular real estate Web sites to determine which ones standout among the pack in helping buyers find information on real estate.

Here's a summary of their findings, in alphabetical order, and what they liked or disliked.

AOL Real Estate. Reviewers liked the online mortgage tools, but weren't as enthusiastic about research information, which they said was out-of-date.

Century 21. Instant chats with real estate pros are cited as a good idea, but reviewers didn't like how the searches only turn up Century 21 listings.

Coldwell Banker. Interactive map and price comparison information pleased reviewers, but searches limited to Coldwell Banker were a turnoff.

Homes.com. Includes some information on foreclosures and new homes as well as competing loan terms from local lenders. However, no neighborhood data available for this search.

HomeGain. Reviewers like the listings of comparable homes sold, but criticized its search process and links limited to Keller Williams.

REALTOR.com. Reviewers liked the detailed descriptions and estimated monthly payment tool, and said multiple pictures and virtual tours for some properties are a plus.

Re/Max. Reviewers compliment ease of navigation and easy to find real estate contact information, but say the interactive map of prior sales needs work.

Yahoo Real Estate. Critics weren't too enthusiastic about its exclusive deals with Prudential Real Estate and how it offers limited new-home sales data.

Zillow. Reviewers liked the site's interactive features, including its new Make Me Move feature that lets you name the price you would move for. But its inaccuracies at times on home estimations didn't please reviewers.

ZipRealty.com. Positives include allowing people to post reviews of homes they've toured. But a negative was its bias toward E-Loan for its loan comparisons.

Source: USA Today, Noelle Knox ( 02/08/07 )

WHERE DID ALL THIS INFORMATION COME FROM?

NowPortTownsend.com offers well organized, easy-to-use search tools and information about Port Townsend. Thanks for visiting my site. Email me at johnhansen@olypen.com with questions or comments.