For Sellers: What Is Your Home Really Worth?
It’s true that as technology advances, there are several ways to find out the approximate value of a home almost instantly. Just recently, I tried out a new feature on a website called Zoocasa, where you can enter any home address and get an on-the-spot home evaluation.
Well, that was the plan.
Naturally, I wanted to test the little widget with a couple of recent sales. So I entered the addresses, hit the send button and — voila! The results came up. What I quickly realized was that, instead of giving me an accurate (or semi-accurate) appraisal, the resulting “guesstimate” was overpriced by $200,000, according to my own calculations. And this is not small change we’re talking about…
What am I getting at?
Technology alone is not enough, at least not yet. Just like proofreading or translating, as two other examples, technology can be incredibly handy but not always incredibly accurate. And when it comes to “correctly” pricing your home, you need more than mere numbers and figures taken from a website. You need comparables from the area. You need sold prices, and you should have someone come over for a quick inspection. It deserves to be seen in person, because the overall condition of your home will never show as well on paper as it does “live”. And that can make a (more than) SIGNIFICANT change in the way your property will be priced.
Ready to have your home appraised? Why not get a free, in-person consultation right now? For price strategies and marketing tips to get your home sold for more money, contact us now.
Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/
Review: Tools for Work – Epson WorkForce 845
An Epson rep sent me an email a few weeks back asking me if I would like to have a free printer in exchange of a review. Not a bad deal, I thought, I get to test drive (and keep) one of their latest model and write about it at the same time. Which it kinda takes care of two things at once, since:
- My other printer is about 3 years old. – Still good, just a little *on the slow side*, due to old age.
And - I need to create blog content.
So, it seems like a win-win situation
I just took it out of the box and thought it would take me a while to set it all up. Alas it did not. It took me merely 6 minutes to get the whole thing running. Yes, I timed it.
And here are my thoughts about it:
Perfect for my home office as it’s an ALL in One (you know: scanner, copy, fax, etc) AND…this is the best part…is has wifi. No need to attach it to my computer. I sent a test print from my iPad and it worked instantly. Sweet.
Compact minimalist design, no fancy buttons sticking out. Instead they have a very sleek touch screen that gives you every instruction you need to set it up properly.
The scanner is pretty fast. Surprisingly so. And it comes with 3 different settings – from simple to very professional. Lots of options on the last one.
Front paper loading trays. Which you can keep closed and maintain the clean look (no white and messy papers sticking out). Love it.
It says it lets you print directly from your memory card. Just stick the card on the printer slot and voila. Personally, I had to use my computer as a bridge for this one. The LCD screen didn’t display the images I wanted to print from the memory card. So is this feature not working properly? Or was it me? That remains a mystery.
Oh, and before I forget. It has a wicked two sided printing feature. Bonus.
The fax however, I wasn’t able to try it out since I don’t have a fax line at home. I will let you check that out on your own.
The printer is called Workforce 845 by Epson. I like it, I’m definitely replacing my old printer, and I think it’s worth the $200 bucks they’re asking for. Let’s hope the ink is not so expensive, because as you know, that’s where they get you. So, that’s all for now
End of review :)
Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/
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[Video] My First Tutorial: How to use the buyer’s portal
So, after countless of times promising myself I would sit down and create a simple tutorial on How to Use the Client’s Portal, I finally got to it!
I found this really cool way to make video-tutorials with Screenr.com, impressively easy to use. Hey, you could impress your clients and friends too ;)
And here it is…
Useful tips on how to view, classify and organize listings by emails.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX1JXl7vtLQ
If you like it, share the love.
Posted By: Deya Bautista - Real Estate Broker working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in high end condos in downtown and Old Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889 http://montrealrealestateblog.com/
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Our Brand-Spanking New Facebook Page
Finally I got around to making a Facebook Fanpage for the Blog. It has been on my mind since last November, and I must admit: I didn’t have a clue how to make one. But miracles do happen, and last week I belatedly uncovered the Facebook Fanpage Mystery. Now, it’s just figuring out what to do with it. I’m still pondering over that last one. Suggestions are, as always, gratefully appreciated.
You might think that having a blog is already enough work. And you’re right.
What I am hoping here is that -unlike the blog- the Facebook page will be self-supported. Of course, with the help of all the lovely fans!
I invite you to join. Yes, you. I know you have a Facebook account, and don’t pretend you don’t.
Let’s get the discussions going, comments and links to Real Estate related topics. It’s up to you.
And oh, before I forget…I’ve change the Facebook sidebar link to point to the page itself and not my profile anymore. Just in case you missed this post.
Posted By: Deya Bautista - Affiliated Real Estate Agent working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in condos and revenue property in the metropolitan area of Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889
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Google Maps the Next Real Estate Search Engine?
I guess it was just a matter of time before Google decided to monetize on the home search queries. A lot of real estate related websites are now using google maps (in the form of a plugin) as part of their listings, and so far is working out just fine.
I’ve noticed more and more properties appearing on google maps – or Google Real Estate 2.0 as they are calling it- since this last summer, and the last time I checked there were a lot of listings from the west coast of the US. But slowly is moving into Canadian territory. More and more Canadian cities are listing their properties online with google base. Agents and brokers are able to upload their listings via google base or RSS (I have yet to check into it). I was surprise to see that not many brokers/agencies listed from Montreal, there are 2 main websites getting most of the hits from google real estate map searches.
Will they compete with the MLS®, Realtor® website?
Compete, most probably. But they are neither a broker nor a MLS system, according to their disclaimer. The complete answer and explanation is found in their FAQ for Real Estate Agents and Brokers:
“Is Google a broker? A national MLS?
We’re neither. Our role is to connect users as quickly as possible with the information they need. People come to us looking for all kinds of information, including housing listings, comparable pricing, and how to find an agent or broker in their area. In all cases, we want to deliver these users to the industry experts who can provide the most useful answers.”
Well, as long as they don’t start crawling the MLS the Realtors.ca database -without permission- they will be lawsuit free. It makes me wonder if, say, 5 years from now, Google Maps -Real Estate 2.0 will be more popular than our Realtor’s site. We’ll have to wait and see.
What do you think?
Posted By: Deya Bautista - Affiliated Real Estate Agent working as part of the McGill Immobilier team. Specializing in condos and revenue property in the metropolitan area of Montreal. For buying or selling contact Deya at: 514.917.7889
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