12.30.2021 PropStream
Real estate data is powerful. It can tell you how much a property is worth, where to look for potential deals, and when to turn down an offer. But most homebuyers and sellers don’t have this data. They rely on their agents to give it to them.
By collecting, analyzing, and presenting clients with property and market data, you can help them make more informed buying and selling decisions. Then they’re more likely to trust you as an expert and have realistic expectations about what they can afford to buy or expect to sell their home for.
So if you are an investor, real estate agent, or a loan originator, here are four types of real estate data ideas to show your clients (and how to find them):
1. Property Specifics
The first type of data you should present to clients is details about the property itself. These include the property’s location, age, square footage, acreage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, amenities (such as a garage, pool, garden, etc.), type of flooring, type of foundation, type of roofing, and so on. Also, provide information on any recent property renovations or updates.
From there, give details on the property’s ownership history. Find out how long the current homeowner has had the property and look for any distress signals indicating that the homeowner may be ready to sell, such as current liens or a recent divorce.
Sourcing all this data can be tricky. You can visually inspect the property, search the MLS and other online property portals, and scour through public records at the local county office. However, this can be a time-consuming and often fruitless process.
Pro Tip: To streamline data collection, try PropStream. It aggregates data from many public and private sources and makes it available on a single platform.
2. Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)
Another type of data you should present to clients is a comparative market analysis (CMA). This estimates a home’s value based on similar properties in the area (aka comping), which is essential information for buyers and sellers.
Creating a CMA starts with collecting basic information on a property (its size, age, condition, etc.). From there, you can look for nearby properties with similar attributes that have recently been bought/sold. Make sure to only look at recent sales data (within the last 3 to 6 months), as older sales may not reflect the current market.
Make adjustments for any differences between properties. For example, if a comparable property was built more recently or is slightly larger than the property in question, take this into account. This helps improve the overall accuracy of your CMA.
Once you have a few different comps (adjusted for differences), you can calculate a property’s estimated value by first dividing the sales price of each comp by its square footage and then averaging the resulting square foot price of all of the comps.
Pro Tip: Use PropStream’s comping feature to quickly search and filter nearby comps so that you can spend less time gathering data and more time finding deals. There is also a handy comp report you can print and share with your prospective clients.
You might also consider including a home price range in your CMA. This gives clients more flexibility in what price to set as a seller or offer as a buyer.
3. Market Conditions and Trends
On top of giving your client information on the property itself, you should give them information about local market conditions and trends. This helps them know whether now is a good time to buy or sell and whether they’re looking in the right market.
Market data can include information such as current housing inventory levels, average days on market, pricing trends, and more. It’s also worth looking at the national data for these metrics to see how the local market compares. This can tell you and your client if the local market is due for a correction.
Another way to predict market trends is to assess local amenities and neighborhood information that could impact future housing demand. For example, local businesses, schools, parks, shopping centers, and transportation options (or plans for such) could help drive demand for properties in the area, raising home values. Conversely, high crime rates and unattractive demographic trends may deter some buyers, lowering home values.
To stay on top of local market conditions, consider subscribing to industry newsletters or attending local real estate meetings.
4. Financing Options
When working with buyer clients, it’s important to present them with information about their financing options. This can include the types of mortgages available to them, such as traditional, FHA, VA, and USDA loans or creative seller financing. You can also explain the difference between fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages or 30-year and 15-year mortgages.
Additionally, mortgage rates are constantly changing, in part, due to the Fed raising and lowering its Federal Funds Rate to help manage the economy. As a loan originator, you can help your clients understand current mortgage rates and their impact on the total cost of buying a home. You can also explain typical down payment requirements (20% of the loan) and inform them about down payment assistance programs.
From there, real estate professionals can present clients with a property deal’s estimated monthly payments based on different loan scenarios. For example, you can enter the sales price, interest rate, property tax rate, homeowner’s insurance, and private mortgage insurance (if applicable) into a mortgage calculator. You can then tweak the numbers to try to lower the overall cost of buying.
Other real estate professionals may give clients lender recommendations, required loan application documents, and details about the loan pre-approval process. It is important to note that if you don’t have the appropriate financial credentials, you should recommend that your clients seek financial advice from licensed financial experts, such as mortgage loan officers or financial advisors.
Tips for Presenting Data to Clients
Now that you know what types of data to give clients, let’s go over best practices for presenting it. After all, the data won’t do them much good if you don’t know how to communicate it effectively. So here are some tips to follow when presenting data:
Know your client. Understanding what information is important to your client can help you tailor the data to their specific needs. That way, you can leave out unnecessary details and get straight to the point. For example, don’t provide information on VA loans if you already know your client wouldn’t qualify.
Provide context. Without context, it can be hard to understand data. So contextualize data whenever possible. For example, you might provide average home sales prices in the area to give your client a better idea of how competitive a particular home price is. Or you might provide national market trends to put the local market in context.
Visualize and Structure the data. This means presenting data in a visual way via graphs, tables, infographics, and so on. This can help make complex data more accessible and appealing. To give the data a cohesive feel, try to use consistent colors and fonts and logically group and organize the headings. PropStream provides its users with a Comp Report to help you visualize the data for your client.
Make it clear and concise. Highlight key points and cut out unnecessary data. This can help clients follow along without getting lost in a sea of too much data.
Be transparent. Don’t exaggerate information, and always cite where you sourced your data and how you arrived at your conclusions. This helps prevent bias and inaccuracies. For example, instead of emphasizing the upper end of what you could sell a client’s house for, give them a realistic estimate based on average comp sales.
Anticipate questions. Put yourself in your client’s shoes to anticipate potential questions, objections, and confusion. Then prepare informed responses that address these. This shows that you value your client’s concerns, and it can help build confidence in you as an expert.
Ultimately, presenting accurate and relevant real estate data is crucial in helping clients make informed decisions, and as an agent, you have a fiduciary duty to help them do what’s in their best interest. To improve your services, use PropStream. Sign up for a free 7-day trial today and get 50 leads on us!
