Buying a house may be the biggest purchase many of us ever make. Choosing the right one is often a daunting process.
There’s so much information out there, including some found online.
We were looking through online sites and found a possible listing for a home that didn’t seem ready to be on the market.
Buying a house can be intimidating. For sale signs and open houses are helpful, but when we want information in an instant, we tend to go to the internet.
Jessica Hickok is an associate executive with the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors.
She said, “Zillow’s pretty to look at. It’s a sexy website and when you go to that website you get a ton of information. You get the same thing with Truila and Homes.com.”
These websites sell the idea of home buying made easy. But is the information accurate? Are the listings giving you false hope?
It was when we ran across a post for this house, at 2103 West Volunteer Way, that suspicions were raised. Don’t know the address? It’s where Gypsy Blancharde and her boyfriend allegedly murdered her mother Dee Dee last month.
Hickok said, “They pull from all different sources of information and spit out a result and unfortunately it’s not always accurate.”
She explained that listings like the Blancharde home are posted using public records. It’s not a true listing, though one website gives you the option to request more info on the home and lists agents you can call about it.
“They’re advertising sites. They want to get the brokers to place their name in certain spots. That’s where you kind of get the inaccurate information. It’s not listed by the person it says it’s being listed by. That’s probably because that agent has paid to put their picture and information on its sites, “she said.
To double check this, we called an agent listed for the Blancharde property on Trulia.com. He confirmed that the property is not for sale and said Trulia posts the data hoping to generate consumer interest that will turn into sales leads.
This confirms what Hickok explained.
“If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you’ve hired an amateur, you know what I mean, you’ve heard the cliché. You want to start with a professional, “she said.
Experts say the websites in question tend to over-inflate home values. This can cause some buyers to pay a higher retail price.
The Greater Springfield Board of Realtors recommends going directly to a broker’s website or realtor.com for the best information.
You can also use crimereports.com to track any previous crimes that may have been committed at the property you are interested in buying.