Buyer: “We’re going to drive by this home we saw on Yahoo! Real Estate. It looks like a great deal.”
Me: “OK, let me see what I can find out about it. Send me the link.”

Yahoo Real Estate

This is how the conversation started. I took a look at the link to the home in Maple Run. Interesting, I haven’t seen this property listed for several years, and $134,900 would be a fantastic price for the neighborhood. So I noted the MLS number and looked it up. The listing expired in 2005 with the home unsold.

Then, I checked on the address. The home had been listed and sold in 2006 at a different price. 7% higher than the one advertised on Yahoo! Real Estate. Pretty poor information from Yahoo, but at least I saved the caller a wasted drive through the neighborhood.

Just last night another client had been forwarded some homes on Trulia, and had sent them onto me all excited. Of the seven he sent, five had sold over one month ago. So Trulia is tardy too. And don’t get me started on Zguesstimates - I’ve blogged about Zillow’s wildly innaccurate pricing estimates in the past.

Search Austin HomesOver 87% of people now start their home searches on the internet according to the 2008 study from the National Association of Realtors®. Maybe I’m a bit of a statistics and numbers freak. Having accurate and timely information is key to make informed decisions in my opinion.

That’s why I give people access to timely data on available homes, and on neighborhoods more broadly. Click on the image to the right if you want to search available Austin real estate - home data that is updated daily, not sporadically or annually.

Garreth Wilcock is an Austin Realtor® who helps people with timely information on available homes in Austin, and can give you a FREE market analysis of your Austin neighborhood