THG Makes The Front Page Of The Sun News Money Section
April 2nd 2006Local real estate takes off in cyberspace
By Jenny Burns
The Sun New
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Oceans One Architect: Mozingo + Wallace Architects, LLC
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| NOTE: This is a preliminary artist's rendering of the proposed new OCEANS ONE RESORT, Myrtle Beach, SC showing only the Phase 1 first tower. All renderings, maps, landscaping, elevations, and plans are artist's conceptions. They are not to scale and are not guaranteed. The developer/builder reserves the right in its sole discretion to make changes or modifications to maps, plans, specifications, materials, features and colors without notice. | |
The high-tech world has hit local real estate.
An investor can sit in his pajamas, watch the 3-D animation of a new oceanfront project, sign into a live Web meeting to get an explanation of the property and then prequalify for a mortgage - all online.
These new high-tech sales tools are being launched by The Hoffman Group, one of the Grand Strand's leading oceanfront condo marketing companies.
Technology is changing the local real estate industry, and experts say agents and real estate companies must adapt or be left behind.
Home listings - once printed in books available only to real estate agents - are available to everyone online, accompanied by increasingly sophisticated photographs and virtual tours.
Staying ahead of the times
The Hoffman Group says its Web site gives buyers the power to get the information they need before they pick up the telephone to call an agent.
"By the time they call us, they're saying I want a C unit at the Ocean's One on a certain floor," said Steve
Edelman, The Hoffman Group vice president of business development.
The company believes so much in technology, it has reinvented its Web site, spending more than $60,000 on one 3-D animation and plans to launch a "Club Ocean" Web site that will allow customers to buy a unit and review the contracts online.
Rosanne Neville of Chicago was interested in buying an Ocean's One unit, but decided to put down the money once she saw the 3-D animation.
"This really solidified that it was a great property. The panoramic view of the resort and rooms is fabulous. It really leaves nothing to the imagination for a prospective buyer. I hope they will continue to use this in the future," she said.
Edelman said response to the animation has been so good that the company plans to do one for each new project.
The animation takes virtual tours to the next level, letting the viewer soar like a bird through the towers, the pool areas, the beach, the lobby and the rooms.
As the number of new condos grows, the animation is a way for The Hoffman Group to separate itself, Edelman said.
The company also recently started using a new program called WebEx, which allows a sales agent to take control of a client's computer desktop to show them condo information anywhere in the world.
"The Realtor is going to go out of business if he doesn't keep up with today," Edelman said.
Can Zillow change real estate?
High-tech isn't just hitting Myrtle Beach.
Homeowners nationwide can now get estimates of their home's value on a new Web site called Zillow.com that provides quick anonymous estimates of home values based on county records and other data.
The company's chief executive, Rich Barton, said his goal is to give people information that can help them when they sit down with a real estate agent or consider bidding on a house.
"My motivation, I guess, is kind of power to the people," Barton said.
He acknowledges that the site has a few kinks, but he says the company is constantly working to improve accuracy by adding more data.
Because online information can't be as accurate as local knowledge, Tom Maeser, president of the Fortune Academy of Real Estate, said real estate agents are always going to be needed.
"Tax rolls are not that up to date. There's a lag time and sometimes it's difficult to determine the actual value versus the assessed value," he said. "When someone is using wrong information for determining value of a home, they could be doing themselves a disservice. A Realtor can give credible, comparable sales."
Local appraiser Buddy Hucks, president of E.F. Hucks & Associates, agreed that online value sites are not always accurate.
He said sites like Zillow could effect the residential market more than the commercial market because commercial prices aren't as available on the Internet.
Hucks said much of the information used in the commercial appraisals he does comes from local research and previous appraisals.
Homebuyers still want face time
The growing number of online real estate resources have made clients more knowledgable about what they're looking for when they meet with their agent, Realtor Karen Craigo said.
Take homebuyer Dick Torrone, 59. By the time he met Craigo he had a list of homes he wanted to see, found a top 10 ranking of local Realtors and knew the previous owners of those homes.
Torrone had gotten all of it off the Internet from his home in Atlanta.
"The best way to find a house is to go online," Torrone said.
So why did he need a Realtor? Those homes didn't look quite as good as the pictures on the Internet and Craigo helped Torrone and his wife decide they really wanted to live on the south end after spending days in Craigo's car cruising the area.
The number of people using the Internet to search for a home has risen dramatically, from 2 percent in 1995 to 77 percent in 2005, according to a National Association of Realtors survey of 7,800 people.
Still, 81 percent of those buyers purchased through a real estate agent, the survey showed.
"I think a lot of people are going to the Internet versus going to a real estate agent. The Internet was a lot easier place to go to. But I don't think it will ever replace an agent," Torrone said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Steve Edelman | The Hoffman Group vice president of business development
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