Are you addressing home buyers concerns about how those miles add up?
In economics, we are taught the magic of compounding is a beautiful thing.
Right now interest rates are unusually low for certain financial instruments. But even today, you could get 5% interest on a 10-year corporate bond.
Buy the bond for $1000 and 10 years from now with compounding interest, that money magically grows to $1647. You nearly doubled your money and didn’t do a thing.
However, when it comes to gas prices, the principle of compounding is not exactly the same, but it is not a stretch to say that gas prices inching higher and adding up all those miles over a year has a similar effect to compounding.
Distance matters, and how far away you live from work, schools, gyms, grocery stores, etc., the accumulation of miles can be a very, very ugly thing.
As a Realtor in these trying times of $4 per gallon gas, with predictions that gas will go to $4.50 this summer, you need to be cognizant of the effects of total annual mileage on your prospects.
The SpatialMatch IDX and Lifestyle search engine tool can help you with this. Our database compiles home listings on a map coupled with the ability to search for area businesses, schools, medical facilities, parks, etc.
There is a critical distance feature that provides a mileage radius indicating distances from a home under consideration to various amenities.
Say for example you have a client who is not totally sold on a particular property. Think’s the price is too high. But you know the property is close to where the client works or will be spending his or her time.
Point out to them that just an extra 20 miles distance, can mean quite a bit in terms of gas usage.
Twenty miles twice a day, five days a week equals 200 miles. If their vehicle gets 15 miles to the gallon, that’s 13.2 gallons per week. If they are paying $4.50 for gas, that’s $59.40 a week extra in fuel.
Now add that up over a year. Those extra miles turn into $3,088. Yep, that’s ugly.
It doesn’t have to be a work situation. Total annual mileage can include many things: a conglomeration of trips to a grocery two times a week, a gym three times a week, a school every day.
The number of trips to the gas pump keeps growing.
Take that $3,088 a year extra and divide it by 12. That’s $257 a month more that can go to a mortgage payment to buy that home nearby.
Let’s put a spin on the specter of high gas prices. You can call it annual mileage savings and soon that extra money for a mortgage payment seems very, very attractive.
SpatialMatch is a tool that can help you illustrate this savings – all laid out for the customer on an attractive, interactive map.
Gas prices have consumers worried. Providing these distance calculations to your customers will show you have an intelligent, clear, web-based way to address these concerns.
In these volatile times, that’s the comforting type of advice people want today.
To view how SpatialMatch addresses the mileage challenge, go to www.spatialmatch.com
