Knowledge is Power

As a real estate agent or broker, you know how busy your day can get— you’re never sitting still. Even though you’re always on-the-go, an integral part of offering homebuyers and sellers the best experience possible is the ability to draw from convenient, comprehensive sources of information.  Let’s take a look at a few of these more in depth.

1) Comprehensive information about a property.
If you have all the key information about a property, your homebuyer clients will be able to make a more informed choice. Think of it this way – when you purchase a car, you want to see a vehicle history report.  Before you hire an employee, you may want to do a background check. Today, homebuyers want to do as much research—or more— for what will be one of the most important purchases of their lives.

As you already know, your homebuyer clients often find the following property information helpful:

• Prior sale amounts

• Property tax information

• Complete square footage

• Ownership status

• Additions/improvements

Where can you find this information? Generally, it’s available to you through public records. If you are a member of a progressive MLS, you have access to a tax system– but it may not give you all the information you need in conjunction with other tools – like the status of your title and escrow orders. Recently, First American began offering a product called myFirstAm, which we understand is convenient, mobile, and growing in popularity. With myFirstAm, you can get instant access to the information that you need – quickly and accurately.*

2) Comprehensive information about a location.
Detailed maps can help to better acquaint you and your customers with a neighborhood or city. A detailed, comprehensive, accurate map will include:

• Nearby schools

• Parks

• Neighborhood boundaries

• Freeways

The factors above are some of the most important your client will consider when choosing a new home. These “lifestyle” factors are often at the heart of the decision to purchase a specific home. So many of today’s lifestyle solutions are vague – they list all of the schools in a school district but do not specify the schools associated with that home. That can be frustrating for consumers. Make sure to avoid that pitfall in your buyer presentations and on your website.

*Fees may apply. Not available where prohibited by law, including the state of Texas. Find out more at (www.myFirstAm.com).