Brought to you by Scott P. Rogers, Funkhouser Real Estate Group, 540-578-0102, scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com
Brought to you by Scott P. Rogers, Funkhouser Real Estate Group, 540-578-0102, scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com
Saturday, April 3, 2021
One of my out of town buyer clients recently lamented the fact that he often finds himself doomscrolling on Zillow...
Doomscrolling - the act of consuming a large quantity of negative online news at once.
...as he described it, he kept going back to look for new listings and kept seeing the same listing, or saw listings that had gone under contract within hours or days.
It's a tough time to be a buyer right now -- especially an out of town buyer who can only view properties virtually.
Thus, yes, many buyers finding themselves endlessly scrolling through the bad news of both:
- Not many new listings, and
- Many new listings going under contract quickly
So, how does one stop doomscrolling on Zillow?
Here's some advice for how to stop doomscrolling, though it was unrelated to real estate, so I reinterpreted it a bit. :-)
- Set a time limit - Don't be on Zillow or any other real estate site for any more than __ minutes per day.
- Avoid social media - If you get distracted by Realtors and selling posting beautiful homes for sale that then end up going under contract before you can act, avoid social media?
- Create boundaries - Don't let all of your conversations with your spouse, coworkers, neighbors and friends be about real estate.
- Practice gratitude - Hopefully you have a place where you are currently living, and perhaps you can find some aspects of your current home for which you can be grateful.
OK - this post started in jest, then turned more serious, and by the end, who knows...
Yes, it is a tough time to be a buyer right now whether that manifests itself in doomscrolling on Zillow or otherwise. Be prepared to be patient in waiting for new listings to hit the market, go see them immediately if they might work for you, and be ready to make an offer very quickly.
