Wall Street Slams Home Listing Sites

Despite San Diego County boasting a red hot real estate market, celebrity home buyers are still finding incredible deals in Encinitas, CA. Well, at least if they are looking in the right places…

Encinitas is home to some of the most magnificent and envied oceanfront real estate on the Pacific Coast, with large sprawling estates, boasting lush landscaping and incredible waterfront entertaining areas. However, while there are still deals to be found, a successful home search is all about the execution.

Why the Wall Street Journal Hates Big Box Home Listing Sites

Wall Street Journal's recent Market Watch report on some of the major third party home listing sites took up 8 pages of scathing commentary on how much of a disservice these firms were doing for home buyers.

So what's the issue and what's the best way to search for homes for sale in Encinitas then?

In a nutshell, it's all about wild inaccuracies on these third party real estate listing hubs which waste an enormous amount of home buyers' time, cause immense frustration and worse, arm them with horribly inaccurate data which can cause them to over pay for homes, if they ever get that far.

According to a new 2012 study, more than a third or all homes listed for sale on Zillow and Trulia are no longer for sale. For those which are or even show sold, the prices shown are effectively just as inaccurate as well. That's great for sucking in would be home buyers from a marketing perspective and helps the sites to drive in more visitors and revenues but when and if house hunters get through to one of these agents and find the home is actually 4 times the price, it burns.

It's all a little too much like online dating. False info, tweaked photos and delayed in-person dates. This is even more dangerous for those dealing with sites like Auction.com, where all buyers have to rely on is this inaccurate data. It's more ‘bait and switch' and it isn't fair for consumers.

What Does the Wall Street Journal Recommend for Your Home Search?

The above has many prominent real estate firms and reputable California Realtors pulling out of syndicating to third party platforms like this. This means California home buyers will no longer find as much as 25% of homes for sale through those platforms. Obviously, those are often the best home listings and the ones buyers can negotiate better deals on.

The Wall Street Journal report went on to say that many home shoppers are now finding great results in turning directly to agents and having them serve up the homes which best meet their needs. This is a trend echoed by another recent home buyer survey which shows more utilizing searches on individual agent sites instead, especially those who are hot on the latest technology.

Getting Wired into the Encinitas Real Estate Buzz

Those considering Encinitas as the location for their next sun kissed residence, stunning second home or income investment property will find SanDiegoRealEstateBuzz.com updates its San Diego County foreclosure listings every 3 hours for the most accurate data, as well as offering access to the local sold homes database so buyers can make better offers and home sellers can find out what their home is worth.

The Encinitas market may be hot, with celebrity home buyers like pro snowboarder Shaun White sliding in to scoop up a great deal on a beachfront home here. However, he got it almost 10% under listing price and San Diego property prices are still around 30% under their peak, leaving plenty of room for booming equity over the next few years.