When home buyers want to find a home online, almost twenty percent of them begin their search with a real estate broker or agent's site. That's needed encouragement to real estate professionals and a surprising slight to the large real estate portals and listings services.

The first Gomez.com/Realty Times weekly consumer poll has released results from its December 5th survey question, "When you shop for a home, where do you begin your search?"

Of 400 respondents, home buyers gave the following possible answers and percentages:

• Search engine / real estate portal 37.4 %
• National home listing sites / franchise brand site 17.8 %
• Local community site 10.3 %
• Local real estate broker or agent site 19.6 %
• Newspaper classifieds 14.9 %

"That's good news for the Internet-empowered REALTOR," said Jody Lane, publisher of Agent News and Realty Times.

According to Nick Karris, a senior Internet analyst with Gomez.com, the implications of the poll findings are:

1. Consumers visit a variety of information sources when shopping for a home online
2. Online consumers are finding alternatives to traditional classifieds
3. Content specific portals are the most popular source of information to online shoppers.

But Realtors shouldn't celebrate yet.

"We know from our research that first time buyers need assurance and decision support," explains Karris. "Few of these local sites offer "real estate 101" content and discussion groups which are common to national MLS sites.

According to Gomez research on the Internet, many local sites are lacking in key areas:

• ease of use
• educational content
• regularly updated listings
• complete listings
• property alerts
• broker disclosure
• related service information (mortgage lenders, neighborhood statistics, etc)

The research also found that online shoppers in general shop online because it makes their lives easier. They find it easier to research products and to compare price online.

Lane says, "This is an important heads-up for Realtors to make sure that their sites are more user-friendly, so they can not only hold on to their lead in the poll, but so they can also hold onto their leads and close more transactions."

Published: December 6, 1999

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.