Realtors say educated homebuyers still need their expertise

The Internet has pr0vided home buyers with a wealth of location and price information. Eastern Iowa real estate agents, however, contend their expertise is still needed to know what to do with all that information.

"The companies and the agents that are thriving today realize that the buyers and sellers bring information to us, but they still need guidance to know how to apply it," said Chris Skogman, president of Skogman Realty in Cedar Rapids. "They need someone to boil down the information into the bits and pieces that will help them accomplish their goals. I don't think the role of a real estate agent has changed as much as people think it has."

Before the emergence of the Internet, Skogman said Realtors provided information to buyers as a first step and helped them understand the context and importance of the information. He said information found on the Internet regarding condominium or house listings often can be misleading, particularly for those living outside the community or in another state.

"In some cases, you have someone sitting in front of a computer using some sort of algorithm that supposedly derives the value of a home, even though they've never set foot in the state, much less the house they are seeing on their computer screen," Skogman said. "In that case, more information actually makes our job much harder because people will make the information fit what they want to believe.

"What's next door to the house that you don't see in the picture? Are you able to determine whether the neighboring properties have been maintained?"

John Marshall, president of the Iowa City Area Association of Realtors, said the organization makes a portion of the Multiple Listing Service for the area available to the public. Marshall said when a real estate agent posts a listing on the Iowa City-Coralville MLS, that information is typically picked up by at least 52 Internet websites.

"As agents representing our clients, it's our job to make that information available to as many people as possible to view it," Marshall said. "Those sites typically do not do a very good job of keeping the listings current.

"I've had people call me over the years about a listing they saw on Realtor.com or another site that has changed in price or is no longer available because it has been sold. The only up-to-date information is found on our Multiple Listing Service."

While Eastern Iowa house and condominium listings are available on many websites, Corridor real estate agents still get contacted by potential buyers in other states looking for assistance.

Kelly Bemus, a Realtor with Skogman Realty who has sold residential real estate for 25 years, recently received a call from someone who has not lived in Cedar Rapids for 25 years.

"They were just astounded as to how much the community has changed since they grew up here and graduated from high school in Cedar Rapids," Bemus said. "They want my guidance to help them find a condominium close to where they will be going to work. They can't imagine how it has grown up because many areas used to be cornfields."

While her laptop computer has replaced a thick "book" of paper real estate listings that sometimes were out of date by the time they were released each week to agents, Bemus said the basic business of showing properties and representing buyers and sellers has not changed.

"We still play a major role in helping a buyer or seller negotiate the sale," she said. "That's the part of my job that I still enjoy.

"This is a very stressful process for the agent as well as the buyers and sellers. Many times I feel that I'm a part time counselor because this is probably the biggest purchase that many people will ever make and they want someone with experience in the market to advise them before they make their decision."

Marshall, an agent with Re/Max Affiliates in Coralville, is a retired school administrator who feels he is still involved in education.

"I think most Realtors today don't look at themselves as sales people," Marshall said. "We look at ourselves as service providers with knowledge to share so that things go well for our clients."

While there has been a lot of press about the practice of homeowners selling their property without engaging the services of a Realtor, the success rate of a "for sale by owner (FSBO)" transacton is very low. Over 80 percent  of all FSBO's end up listing with a real estate agent, usually due to the wrong price or lack of visibility to potential buyers.

Many times people want more money for their homes because they have done some type of recent improvement. Unfortunately many projects for the home do not have a high return.

If you replace a roof, remodel a bathroom or add a patio, national statistics show that you shouldn't expect to see much payback on the money you invested.