Real estate games
Well, here's something a little fun for a Friday.
There's a new online real estate game on ZipRealty's website, and the developers based it on those fantasy football games. Price Me Now lets you predict the sale price of real properties and compare your predictions with others. You get to see photos of the properties; read details about it, including the list price; and check out recent sale prices of area properties.
Then you predict the sale price. After you enter your prediction, you get to see other players' predictions and you get an "IQ" score ranging from 1 to 200 that suggests how well you know the market. When the property actually sells, you get a final score.
The game was just launched last month and it only covers a few areas of the country so far, but the Boston area is one of them. I tested it out a little and found it kind of amusing. However, I hope they make some improvements.
For example, for the homes that I "played" there were a few cases where I wanted the chance to argue, er, make my case to someone after I received my score. For instance, I cut the price on a home in Westwood by 10 percent and the game told me that I was "aggressive" and not very "optimistic" about the market. And I got a pretty low score. Anyway, I wanted to tell the other folks who'd made predictions that the home, though nice, needed some updating and was located near the high school -- which is an area that anyone who has ever driven in Westwood will tell you is a traffic nightmare during commuting hours. Plus it had already been on the market 150+ days. It would have fun to go back and forth with some of the other players on the price.
It's entertaining for a little while, but it seems like it takes patience to see the game through, much like real life real estate sales. If you're looking for instant gratification, keep checking out neighbor's property value trajectory on Zillow (even if you do think the data is completely wrong), or check out rental prices on a site like Rent-O-Meter, which instantly lets you know if you're paying too much rent. (I love that site because it told me that I'm not getting gouged.)
Let me know what you think of Price Me Now. Or better yet, let me know if you know of some other entertaining online real estate sites and what you think of them.
Have a good weekend.
I am going to have so much fun with this. I can tell already....
Sounds like xrankcelebrity5.com but for houses. Interesting concept. It seems like there are enough amature realtors out there that this might be a good niche marketing program. Unfortunately, I suspect the people that will do best at the game aren't looking for a realtor becasue they probably are one.
It sole purpose is to guilt you for pricing too low. You are clearly not well "educated" about real estate if you set selling price "lower" or "low". It is useless. It is missleading. I do not find it to be fun.
What I like about it is that your score is based on how you compare to other people's estimates, not your proximity to the asking price. One could argue this approach would lead to a "people's choice" home price average that might more accurately reflect the home's value than the asking price.
I agree that discussions on the home and its price would make the game more interesting. An alternative to this could be that as part of your price estimate, you also can pick some reasons you know why the home should be priced higher or lower, such as close to high school/bad traffic, recent home upgrades, desirable street, etc. Either of these could really help buyers get to know what is going on in the market.
This game is a total joke! ZipRealty actually put out a press release touting this "game". They also have another "tool" which lets you shop by your desired mortgage payment. Total gimmicks!
I played this game for a little while, and I liked it for 5 minutes. I chose my area, and I wish you could comment about the homes, as some I know 'where they need to be' to sell, and priced accordingly. I know this, because I've been IN them, and have spoken to agents who want to sell!
We'll see; I also don't think that my pricing is 'challenging' the market or being less optimistic about the market as it says. If anything, I'm being realistic.
But what can you do- this is a RE website.
I played this for about 15 minutes yesterday. Indeed, heaven help you if you think that the place will sell 5% below asking---I got told by the game that I was being agressive! If a home has sat for 3 months without a buyer and I price it 5%-10% below asking (and it could very well be worth less depending on how things shake out) how is this aggressive?
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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