'Stalkerism' infects real estate

Flickr photo by ClickFlashPhotos.

A funny thing happened on the way out of the bubble -- Americans became obsessed with real estate. It was an inevitable phenomenon that had been snowballing for years; the advent of home-improvement television and the Web-empowered access to all sorts of random real estate data created a whole flavor of person who considered themselves a real estate fan, sort of like fantasy football aficionados or scrapbookers.

And then the market had, uh, issues. The housing market became the No. 1 news topic, and as declining home values made it tougher for sellers to sell their homes, it also created opportunities for previously priced-out buyers to buy, and diminished the net worth of homeowners who weren't even contemplating a real estate transaction -- much of the country joined ranks with the real estate fans and became big consumers of real estate information. Some, though -- especially wannabe buyers and sellers -- became real estate "stalkers."

To be clear, there is a difference between a real estate e-consumer -- someone who uses the Web as a primary source of information, education and listings to be a smarter, wiser real estate consumer -- and a real estate stalker. In fact, I'm a huge advocate for client education and empowerment through knowledge -- information, education, and even inspiration that provides accurate answers and solutions to real questions and problems that consumers actually have.

But there's knowledge, and then there's data. Data is just information -- the numbers and statistics that can be spat out endlessly and spun beyond all recognition into lurid headlines that lure the eyes of rabid readers. OK, I guess my bias is showing a little bit; not all data is bad, but much of it is just not very relevant to the average consumer's decision-making.

The difference between a real estate e-consumer and a real estate stalker is, at essence, whether they comb the Web (and the papers and the TV) for knowledge or for data.

Knowledge improves decision-making. Data is benign at best, but at worst can actually cause panic, procrastination or paralysis, which harms decision-making.

Knowledge is solution-oriented, even if it helps a consumer make the smart decision to save more, budget better, or prepare more fully before they buy. Data is just numbers, and is often misused to capture the audience's eyes.

In real estate, knowledge tends to be local while data often screams about national trends that are not very meaningful to an individual consumer's decision-making.

Real estate e-consumers generally have questions, research them on the Web, and consult with a local real estate professional to see how they should be applying the knowledge they've harvested to their personal situation. Then they go to sleep and live their lives. ...CONTINUED

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