Week 5, Exercise 11

Hoping to relocate in two years, so I decided to check out the Real Estate category. Here's a rundown of what I found at each site.

#!
PROPSMART.COM
Launched 12/05; indexes a majority of the listings in the top 25 US metropolitan areas
Brag points: Google-based searchable maps; RSS feeds of listings
Lists 4 types of property: Homes, Land, Commercial & Apt. Rentals

After you enter your City/State:
* Sort by price
* Filter by: price, beds, size, hide props w/o pics
* Set number of listings per display

Limiting my exploration to just the Homes category covering U.S. & beyond (other property types are in beta) ---

Map on the page is populated by "pushpins" locating properties. Run your cursor over the pushpins to display price and address. Inset map places map view within the larger region.

Text listing dislays: Price, Bd/Ba, Sq. Ft., Address
Clicking on map pushpin displays bubble with same info with added detail - number of nearby properties.

Clicking on address from the list, or detail page from map bubble takes you to the same detail page, where you'll get a very detailed description, plus access to a scrollbar activated slide show of good size photos and a zoomed in map locator for the property.

In addition to other types of property, the site has tabs for:
My PS (Edit Profile, Rated Properties, Manage Properties, Add Property)
Forum (Blog setup for different types of announcements from Propsmart)
Blogs (Access to blogs on a variety of real estate related blogs)

#2
ZILLOW.COM
Launched in 2005 to give home buyers the tools of an agent.
Lists only homes for sale.
Interesting features: satellite maps, My Estimator which lets you arrive at an estimate of any property based on information you fill in; see: http://www.zillow.com/howto/MyZestimator.htm

Home page links access:
(Info for) BUYERS
Valuations & homes for sale
Search — For sale, sold, and Make Me Move homes — on one map
Make Me Move™ — Homeowners willing to talk, for the right price
Zestimate™ — Estimated value vs. price: Take it to open houses
Comps — Recently sold homes, neighborhood trends
Buyer's Wiki — Home buying guide by buyers

Info for) SELLERS
Free postings, lots of buyers
Post For Sale — Your home on Zillow (place it on the map!)
Make Me Move — Test the waters with a price to entice
My Estimator — Your estimate based on improvements
Zestimate — What's your home worth?
Seller's Wiki — Home selling guide by sellers

(Info for) OWNERS
A home for your home
Make Me Move — The magical number you can't refuse
Zestimate — Estimated market value of your home
Claim Your Home — Add photos and comments
Search — What houses nearby sold for — or are about to
Get a Loan — Home equity and refinancing tips

Extras include the trival (Famous Former Lovers' Homes --- includes aerial view of adjacent properties with their price tags) and the useful (Quarterly Home Value Reports --- includes the Zindex Home Value Indicato, providing median values for a region and Local Reports for major markets)

Home page tab options:
* Map & Search
Opening screen shows U.S. map with what appear to be median prices for selected areas.
Enter preferred city/state. Displays regional map populated by flags with prices. Filter results by Price, Beds, Baths, Size, Lot, Type or Sold Within. Click on an address to bring up property details; zoomed in map with prices of surrounding properties; different map options, including Streets, Aerial, Hybrid (which is Streets + Aerial), and Heat (a regional view showing distribution of pricing from low (blue) to high (red), plus a bird's eye view or photos. My test site had neither.
* Post for Sale
Enter as an owner or an agent and list property at no cost.
* Real Estate Wiki
Numerous links for buyers or sellers providing education on all aspects of the process.
* My Zillow
Use this area to save and map favorites, create your own list of comparables, receive updates on homes your tracking and new Zillow features.

#3
TRULIA.COM
This is another website that focuses on Home sales. As with other sites you enter the city and state that you want to search. You can refine your search with the following filters: price range, property type, minimum # of beds, minimum # of baths, sq. ft., neighborhoods and nearby cities.

The initial listing displays price, address, city/zip, # of BR & BA, number of sq. ft. , a thumbnail photo of the esterior and the real estate compny listing the property. Over on the right is map poulated by inverted raindrops, color coded according to price range. An inset map defines the region in which these listings appear.

Clicking on a listing provides more detail, a link to a photo gallery, a zoomed in map, a graph tracking home prices in the area over 5-year period, a price comparison to other homes in the neighborhood. Using the heat map option provides a satellite view of the area, with a color coded map illustrating price range distribution. A chart provide the following comparative data: average listing price, average sales price. median sales price, price per sq. fit. and a column labeled Trulia popularity, which I assume refers to how popular each neighborhood is (based on visits to that part of the website? it's really not clear. Search similar homes brings up a chart listing 25 properties, showing address, proximity to original addrss, list price, the number of days it's been listed, property type, BR, BA, sq. ft., lot size, year built and price per sq. ft. As with other sites, the map markers display brief info when the cursor passes over them. You can also opt to listings of other homes that have already sold.

If the photo gallery is hosted at www.postlets.com, you also have access to the following tabs: a bulleted list of Features, Photo gallery, map, school locator and www.bankrate.com's mortgage calculator.