When you are looking for property in the Copperopolis / Lake Tulloch area, please call me at (209) 840-1432 and I would be happy to either show you the area personally, or at least, prepare some listings and maps for you explore the area. If you choose to “go it alone” I would highly recommend my favorite real estate app for your smart phone.
As rural as we are in Copperopolis, ATT and Verizon have recently made great strides in providing data coverage in our area. ATT recently launched 3G coverage in our area. I know, 3G is already yesterday’s technology, but I will take what I can get. I personally don’t use Verizon due to their lack of data coverage in our area, but I have heard that they have recently struck a deal to access data from local provider, Golden State Cellular. Like I said, I don’t use it, but I hear it works.
So back to the app. I personally do not like most apps for real estate. Some of the most popular apps are just that, popular, but not really useful. Two examples of these “popular” apps are Trulia and Zillow. I am sure that you have either heard of this or actually used them in your search for real estate. The problem that I have with these apps, is that the information is seldomly correct. These resources use third party information for their data. This is common of a lot of things so let me explain. When I add a listing to my personal website, it happens to “syndicate” the information out to many real estate related websites. They in turn, publish this information for you to see. The problem is that this information is seldomly accurate. How many real estate websites have you seen with listings that had the incorrect price, had been sold years ago, or were no longer even for sale? Unless an agent is timely in making changes to their websites, social media and other sources, the information that you see has a good chance of being incorrect. As for Zillow, don’t even get me started. A complex algorithm to value real estate? Read this for why this doesn’t make sense.
Straight from the horse’s mouth!
When it comes to true accurate data for home prices and listing information, there is no better person to call than a qualified realtor®. Realtors® have access to their respective Multiple Listing Service which by rule, must have the most recent changes done within 24 hours after a change. The information from an MLS system can generally be counted on for accuracy because an agent can actually be fined if proper changes are not made in a timely fashion. In a “third party” situation no one gets fined for out of date information and the person that suffers is the person that is counting on accurate information.
Realtor.com is one of the rare outside sources that get an actual feed from the MLS providers. While the feed isn’t always instant, changes are normally made within 24 hours.
Last year, Realtor.com relaunched it’s mobile app and I believe that it is far and away the best real estate application that you can get, and it’s free! I have access to many real estate systems that aren’t accessible to prospective home buyers, and even amongst those, this app still ranks the highest for me. I actually prefer the app to their full website at Realtor.com. It is just so easy to use and it makes sense.
Why I like it?
Since the economy has fallen, many homes have been foreclosed on. In the Copperopolis area specifically, a large percentage of the foreclosures that come back on to the market are listed with out of town agents. When I say “out of town”, I mean an agent that is from far enough away, that they are not a member of our local MLS system. This often poses problems for all involved. The bank loses, because the home is not properly marketed in the local market, which in turn, makes it had for local agents and buyers to find information on the subject property. If no one knows anything about the home except for an agent in Stockton, then ultimately the price is reduced, negatively effecting the local market if the home may have been priced properly, but nobody knew it was for sale. Before this blog becomes a rant, I will stop here.
So anyway, if the home ends up being listed in the Stockton area MLS, it will show up on Realtor.com and the app even though it may not show in the local MLS system. So we are out, looking at property and we happen to come across a home that is not in my printouts. What do we do? I break out my iPhone and open the Realtor.com app and since it uses our GPS location, the home we are parked in front of, should come up first. It’s that easy. See a real estate sign, stop in front of the home, pull out your smartphone, launch the app, and you instantly have the information that you need about the property. But don’t forget to call me at (209) 840-1432 to show it to you if you are interested ;).
Interested? Click on the phone for the iPhone version or here for Android.
Best Real Estate App for Copperopolis / Lake Tulloch Real Estate
