The power of comparison

There’s an interesting study which shows the effectiveness of comparison in decision-making.

After all, people don’t generally make a decision in a vacuum.

They research. They need a reference point to compare one item to the next.

In this study, the subjects were asked  how much they would pay for a dictionary with 20,000 entries with a torn cover and how much they would pay for a 10,000-entry dictionary with an intact cover.

They said they would pay $20 for the larger dictionary but would be willing to pay $24 for the dictionary with the intact cover but fewer definitions.

However, when they were shown the dictionaries, side-by-side,  they flipped.

Now, they said they would be willing to pay $27 for the 20,000-word dictionary and its bad cover and only $19 for the 10,000-word book with the nice cover.

Comps are a basic tool used by real estate professionals. They do provide a reference point, many times to bring a seller back down to earth.

The robust IDX and neighborhood search tool SpatialMatch provides a reference point as well.

On the platform, which is embedded directly onto a broker or agent’s website, users can hit the access button and see many of the Recent Sales in the area.

SpatialMatch is geospatial, so it gives a visually-pleasing reference point showing Homes for Sales and Recent Sales right there on a map.

According to the web design expert site UX Matters which offers advice on decision-making when designing a web site, there are three factors which are important to buyers.

1) People typically determine the value of something by making comparisons.

2) People are constantly comparing and contrasting just about everything.

3) People’s assessment of value is highly dependent upon whether they consider something in isolation or by making a comparison.

UX points out that because the general public does not have a built-in calculator to determine the value of a property (as most seasoned real estate professionals seem to possess). They determine value by comparing and contrasting one thing to another.

Now, we know just looking at a recent sale price of a home is not going to give someone a true comparison.

There are a myriad of other factors involved – conditions of the sale, how the deal was financed, market conditions, location and the physical state of the property. That’s where the professional broker or agent comes in with their real estate appraisal research.

But what SpatialMatch does is to empower consumers to do a little research on their own. As we said in an earlier column, the tech-savvy consumer of today will turn to the Internet to check things out.

By providing that research, on your website where you can retain ownership of that prospect, you show that you have the latest, coolest tools for home buyers and sellers on the market.

So when it comes to comparing real estate offices, guess who will have the big advantage?

The office with the powerful, hyper-local SpatialMatch database, that not only lets you check out Homes for Sale AND Recent Sales AND Neighborhood Amenities AND so much more. That’s the power of comparison.

To see the UX Matters article, click here.

For a demonstration on how SpatialMatch can give you an advantage in your market, click here.