New Media in Real Estate

Real Estate


Real estate is essentially a piece of property - land and attached improvements - that cannot be moved. Real estate is often identified to fall under three categories: residential real estate, commercial real estate, and other. Depending on the property and also the timing, it can either be sold in its entirety from one homeowner to the next and also rented, or leased, which ensures a form of payment for use of the asset.

When purchasing real estate, planning and research is often recommended when deciding whether to own or lease a property. With the use of new media, the real estate business has grown exponentially through the use of many online databases and online communication platforms. And by efficiently utilizing the world wide web, not only will consumers be able to easily find real estate that fit their personal requirement, they're able to find more than they could have in prior times. Thanks to new media in the real estate sector, consumers are able to access multiple real estate websites to find housing dimensions, proper pricing, testimonies & reviews, and also answers to important questions. Compared to real estate catalogs and newspaper listings, offering services in new media has drastically changed the way people are able to access information on housing.

With the help of new media and the stream of available information, people are now able to accurately find desired homes, calculate mortgage and tax amounts, and also efficiently plan and prepare for the hardships of either investing in or renting a home.

Residential Properties
Residential properties are real estate properties for the purpose of housing an individual or group of individuals. Currently, we have more than 5 different forms of residential properties for housing purposes, which include:


 * Multi-family houses: Typical housing properties that consists of sufficient square space to fully accommodate more than one family in the household. Often, Multi-Family houses (i.e. apartment buildings) are purchased as an investment property by an investor(s).


 * Apartments: Smaller properties within a large building that can fit a range of parties - from a full family to one person. An apartment is usually rented and now owned by those living in the quarters.


 * Condominiums: A condo is the form of housing where a specified a piece of an apartment is individually owned by the inhabitant. The difference between a condo and an apartment is ownership.


 * Cooperatives: Also known as co-ops, they are similar to condominiums except for the fact that you become a shareholder in a corporation that owns the property rather than own it yourself. As a shareholder, you are entitled to exclusive use of a housing unit in the property.


 * Mobile housing: Prefabricated structures that are built outside of the land it sits on. Due to legal reasons, they can conveniently be moved to another location.

Depending on the situation, length of stay, price range, and also availability, it is important to choose a specific form of residential housing fit for you. A real estate website is able to fully accommodate these requirements and filter through thousands of properties to assist in finding the perfect apartment or house.

Zillow
Zillow is an online real estate database founded in 2005. Since then, they have drastically grown and holds data of about 100 million homes domestically in the United States. Not only are they known for their valuations in home price estimations, but they also offer superior services compared to other competitors through historical prices, comparable homes around the neighborhood and city, aerial views, and also great customer service. One of Zillow's most popular services is it's unique offering called a "Zestimate". According to Zillow this is..."The Zestimate® (pronounced ZEST-ti-met, rhymes with estimate) home valuation is Zillow's estimated market value, computed using a proprietary formula. It is not an appraisal. It is a starting point in determining a home's value. The Zestimate is calculated from public and user submitted data." According to some Real Estate Professionals this is a proving to be a valuable (and proprietary) asset of ZIllow's. The Zestimate has been gaining much momentum with buyers as they are growing increasingly comfortable and thus, trusting, of ZIllow as an advisor and reputable component of the modern Real Estate industry.

Zillow is currently rated the most popular real estate website as of December 2013, with more then 15 million estimated monthly visitors. Zillow, in the past few months, has been in talks to acquire StreetEasy, one of New York's leading real estate platform, for roughly $50 million.

StreetEasy


StreetEasy is one of New York's leading commercial real estate platform. StreetEasy is known for its emphasis on user transparency, share history, and also recorded sales. It's model utilizes real-time updates from an aggregate of all active sales and rental listings. With information on monthly price changes and length of time each listing is on the market, users are able to accurately find the best deals in NYC.

By inputting a desired location in NY, the type of residential housing, a price range, and also number of desired bedrooms and bathrooms, users of StreetEasy are able to find numerous houses on sale from reliable and credible sources, along with a sufficient amount of pictures and descriptions on the interior housing structure. Users can also access an assortment of blog posts, guides, and a Q&A section on the trends of the housing market.

As stated above, Zillow is in place to purchase StreetEasy.

Airbnb
Airbnb, founded in August 2008 and headquartered in San Francisco, offers unique accommodations to rent in over 192 countries. With more than 10 million transactions taking place worldwide, Airbnb is the world leader in travel rentals. Typical listings have included private rooms, apartments, castles, boats, manors, tree houses, tipis, igloos, and even private islands.

Users are categorized as either hosts and guests, both of whom must create a profile and account on the website and build reviews and a reputation overtime. Guests typically are given sufficient information to reach a decision. In the case a question is needed to be asked, the website offers easy communication between hosts and guests through any preferred form of medium.

Hosts of housing properties are able to post accommodations for rent, whether long-term or short-term that includes the price per night, amenities, house rules, and imagery of the property. By holding a profile, guests are able to see reviews from past customers - one of new media's strongest factors in benefiting real estate rental services. Taking a look at the platform, users are able to see certain accommodations such as internet and cable provider, car services, train and bus services around the neighborhood, and also famous sites and attractions around the city.

Others
Listed above are a few of the more notorious and well known websites in providing real estate information and services to consumers. On top of that, hundreds of websites are out there providing the same services in different locations, and to different demographics.

Among a few of the less known housing platforms are Yahoo! Real Estate, Trulia, Realtor.com, Homes.com, Rent.com, RedFin, ZipRealty, Apartments.com, HotPads, ApartmentGuide, ApartmentRatings, ForRent, Rentals.com, and FrontDoor.



Commercial Properties
For commercial properties, finding real estate using new media has definitely increased the selections available, along with creating a new medium for businesses to invest in a structure of land or building. Unlike the countless websites consumers can use for residential housing, commercial real estate is a bit more limited in resources and utilizes a few new media platforms on top of agencies that specialize in contracting commercial real estate properties.

LoopNet


LoopNet as of now is considered to be one of the most widely used marketplace for commercial real estate. With over 5.8 million members and 3.6 million monthly visits, LoopNet is responsible for proving a large amount of businesses a property in the United States.

The platform allows for businesses to post property listings, and allows buyers an opportunity to connect with sellers in a widely used and open market. For those that pay for a premium membership, buyers or sellers are given more benefits that free users do not get.

LoopNet, in April 2012, has been acquired by CoStar Group and now acts as its subsidiary.

TheRealDeal
TheRealDeal is both an online blogging platform and a magazine that specializes on the overall real estate industry. With emphasis on both commercial and residential property back in 2003, TheRealDeal has transformed into what it is now called the must-read news source for NYC real estate professionals. Readers are able to get an update of the overall industry, with more articles concerning more specific buildings all around the U.S. with a focus on New York City. For New York City Real Estate Professionals, regardless of focus (i.e. commercial, residential, retail, industrial), being in tune with recent transactions, proposed transactions, developments, etc. is paramount. The Real Deal has established a reputation in the industry that firmly places it among the leaders in Real Estate news.

Costar


Lately, although they may not specifically be for the purpose of commercial use, many seek residential real estate as a form of investment or personal wealth accumulation. CoStar allows readers to get a more detail grasp of the real estate industry as they are a large provider in commercial information on properties all over the world.

Considered the world leader of commercial real estate intelligence, CoStar offers users a database of well-constructed information, along with analytics and marketing services. Having started in 1987, the company has developed its research procedures and expanded its database over the years to become the global head of information on real estate.

Owning vs. Renting


When it comes down to housing, it is very important to decide on whether owning a piece of real estate is a much better investment than renting one. Not only do you need to consider long and short term plans of getting a piece of property, but you must also look into the amount of fees, expenses, and opportunities that come with it between owning a house or renting one.

Title
Title is the legal term for the collection of rights in a given property and/or the legal document serving as evidence of ownership. The document evidencing title is a deed of trust.

Deed
Deed is a document conveying title from one person to another. It provides assurance about whether the title is good and marketable. Some types of deed are general warranty deed, special warranty deed or quitclaim deed. Deeds are recorded in the county land records which are available to the public and courts. Buyers wants “good and marketable title,” and can learn a lot about a property by going to the town or county recorder’s office and looking at the records.

Mechanic's Lien
Mechanic lien is a junior lien put on a property by an unpaid contractor, worker or material supplier whose collateral for payment becomes the property. For example, A painter is contracted by a property owner to paint his home. After rendering his services the homeowner refuses to pay the painter for a reason other than dissatisfaction with the job the painter has performed. The painter can then go to court and file for a mechanic's lien. If granted the court will place a lien on the home, effectively forcing the owner to pay the painter before he can transfer the property in any way.

Loan Amortization Sequences
Listed below are multiple mortgage and loan schedules to take into consideration when purchasing real estate. Each one specifically is geared towards a different interest in the property, and is also dependent on the current environment of the economy or the real estate market.

Constant Payment Mortgages


A constant payment mortgage, or a CPM, is the most common form of payment pattern used in financing real estate. In a CPM, interest and also principal payment change inversely as time goes by. Most payment in the beginning is interest. As the overall balance decreases overtime, principal payment, or the payment specifically toward paying the loan, will be larger. In this form of a loan, the overall loan balance is paid towards the end of maturity.

Interest Only Loans


In an interest only loan, a loan will be offered where no principle will be paid off. This loan holds an agreement to only pay forth an interest set by a specific interest rate. This is often times used for short-term lending, where the borrowers choose not to pay any form of principle payment as they stay in a property for a short amount of time.

On maturity, the total loan balance will be paid back.

Partially Amortizing Loans


In partially amortizing loans, often called balloon loans, a lump sum of the remaining outstanding balance will be paid after a certain amount of time. Essentially, for those that are looking to cut their payment time down, borrowers have the opportunity to completely pay off their outstanding loan amount all at once as to avoid any further interest payments.

Negative Amortizing Loans


A negative amortizing loan occurs when the payments will be less than the actual or necessary, accrued amount. The loan balance will end up being greater than the original loan amount at maturity. for example, if $50,000 is borrowed, $60,000 may be potentially due at maturity.

Oftentimes, this form of a loan is agreed upon in an attempt to avoid defaults in payment.

Constant Amortizing Mortgage


Constant amortizing mortgages, or CAM, are payments that over time pay off the same amount of principle until time. Unlike the CPM, or constant payment mortgage, month payment is not constant, but principle payment is.

Government Intervention
Recent innovations in financing and securitization of real property require that demarcations of rights and responsibilities be spelled out very clearly. As more than one entity may have an interest in a property, it is important to understand what rights are transferred with ownership. Some limitations of property rights by the Government are:
 * Eminent domain
 * Land use regulations
 * Zoning ordinances
 * Building codes
 * Water/mineral rights