Hyperlocal Lifestyle Search changing the way we look for houses.

The internet has certainly changed the way people look for homes and Web 2.0 applications have brought a whole new level to the search.  This week, Steve Teztner and I had a great conversation with my IT Director Tom Flanagan and John Sable, from our Technology partner Active Website to talk about the new Lifestyle Search on our website and other emerging trends in Real Estate.  The Active Enterprise Network is a group of 17 private Real Estate companies that freely share information on tech systems and solutions to the betterment of all of us.  Tom and the Active team work constantly to leverage the latest technology to provide the best online experience for buyers and sellers.

Traditionally search fields have been pretty generic and confined to MLS input fields; price, location, number of bedrooms, etc. The lifestyle search, powered by information compiled from hundreds of national data sources by Onboard Informatics, gives visitors to our website the ability to search for features that are important to them, whether it be good schools, shopping, golf courses, or nightlife, to come up with properties in neighborhoods that best match their specific needs.  Since the Enterprise Network members enjoy geographic exclusivity, we are excited to be the only independent Real Estate Company in our area to provide this feature.

John  is a managing partner at Active  and was so happy to talk about the lifestyle search with us he took time out of his fishing trip to join the conversation.   John pointed out that we always need to distinguish our website from our competitors, and this highly personalized approach to search is revolutionizing the industry.  For sellers, whoever has the best search function will get the most traffic to your listing. As for buyers, the most important lifestyle feature for most are the schools, even people without children understand the connection between house values and school systems.  To be able to say “I live in Boulder and have to move to Rhode Island, what towns in Rhode Island compare to Boulder” is a great resource.

This Week’s Real Estate Insight:

Since over 90% of real estate searches involve the internet, If you are not using a Realtor with a good web presence you are doing yourself a disservice.  Being able to offer a highly personalized service that most of our competitors can’t provide gives our clients a great advantage.  Our partnership with The Active Enterprise Network ensures that we will always be able to leverage the cutting edge of technology to the benefit of our sellers and buyers.

Listen to this week’s podcast here: