Neighborhood Matchmaker

I just discovered another house hunting tool over on Inman News.
It's a website called Hoodeo that bills itself as "The Neighborhood Matchmaker." The concept is simple: create a profile by answering a few questions about income and general housing preferences, and Hoodeo will match you up with homes that it thinks fit you to a T.

So is Hoodeo worth its salt? Kind of. Based on my answers (and my saying that I didn't want to leave the Knoxville area), Hoodeo placed me in Fountain City, which is a great part of Knoxville that my husband and I once thought about moving to. The homes it picked for me, however, were totally not my style. This is maybe not such a big surprise, since the only questions Hoodeo asked me about what I was looking for in a home were price, number of bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage.

Just for larfs, I went back and answered all of my questions the same, except that I said I was willing to leave K-Town. Apparently my #1 dream city is a place called Cedar Hill, Texas, which appears to be right outside of Dallas. A match made in heaven? Um, no.

Still, it's an interesting idea and it works for renters as well as for those looking to buy. Go check it out and then come back here and let me know what your neighborhood match is in the comments.

Trulia Snapshot Brings Sexy Back to Real Estate

Trulia's new toy, Trulia Snapshot, is the coolest, most gorgeous real estate search toy tool I have ever seen.

You simply have to give it a whirl to know what I mean. If you like pretty, shiny things, go play with the Knoxville listings and come back and let me know what you think.

Coolest Tool Yet: PolicyMap

OK, I've shared some websites with you before that I thought were pretty cool. And at the time I shared them, they were. But that was before @Admore tipped me off to PolicyMap.

PolicyMap is a brand new monster research tool that you really have to play with to believe. According to the developers:

... [PolicyMap] combines sophisticated technology and the best analytical tools to deliver a new level of accessibility to data. And we mean all kinds of data – more than 4,000 indicators related to demographics, real estate markets, money and income, education, crime and more.

They're not kidding about that data, either. PolicyMap provides you with information you find on sites like Zipskinny and Zilpy and then some - everything from residential energy consumption to campaign contributions by geographical area. You can search by state, county, city, or even by congressional and school districts. In addition, PolicyMap has tons more crime statistics for the Knox County area than SpotCrime.

And that's not all. PolicyMap doesn't just give you data, it goes even further by allowing you to create your own layered "heat maps," tables and reports from the data it provides. Now that's cool.

Unfortunately, there is a "but" in all of this: some of the information on the site is for subscribers only, and subscriptions don't come cheap - $2,000 per year for the standard package alone. Ouch.

But even without that extra level of data, PolicyMap is a still an awesome resource that I've only scratched the surface of here. Go check it out for yourself, and then come back here and let me know what cool stuff you find. Happy hunting!

Another Cool Tool: SpotCrime

Another question we real estate agents aren't allowed to go anywhere near is "is this a safe neighborhood?" Sure, we know, and no, we can't say anything. Lame. That's why I was psyched when I saw a write up on TechCrunch about a website called SpotCrime.

Go to SpotCrime, select your city, and you'll be shown an interactive Google map that will show you at a glance where crimes such as arson, assault and theft have occurred within a time period of your choosing. You can also search specific addresses to check out crime on a neighborhood level.

TechCrunch says that for most areas, SpotCrime gets 90% of its information from police reports, but only if that information is made public. From looking at the Knoxville map, it looks like Knoxville is one of the areas where they are only pulling information from local news stories. While this is better than nothing, I'd love to see a fully functional version for our town.

Neighborhood Rental Information

I have a new website obsession and it's called Zilpy. Zilpy is like a hybrid of Zip Skinny and Zillow, but specifically geared toward renters and investors. According to their website:

Zilpy is a free online rental market facts and analysis service dedicated to help you make better rental and investment decisions.

We do exactly what you would do if you had to do the analysis yourself – collect data from all available sources (newspaper classifieds, online classifieds, apartment rentals, etc.) and filter the data based on your criteria (proximity, property type, crime rate, population, income, etc). We do all this heavy lifting for you so that you can concentrate on your real goal: find the right rental property.

Zilpy also answers to the following questions:

• - Where are the cheapest 2 bedroom Condos or Townhouses?
• - How much rent can I get at this specific address?
• - What is the rental trend in a specific area, can I see heat maps?
• - What is the demographic structure (population, age, income) of a specific rental area?

Enter a potential rental address in Zilpy and you'll get a Google map showing other nearby rental properties, complete with their current rents and amenities.; comparable rental properties in the area; and a suggested potential rent for the subject property. You'll also get other information for the area, such as average renter occupancy, vacancy rates and monthly rent affordability. In addition, Zilpy will pull census information for the area, a la Zip Skinny.

While it's not perfect, Zilpy seems like a good tool for both renters and potential landlords. It's also a good way to see how many rentals are in an area you're thinking about moving to.

Out of curiosity, I entered my home address in Kingston Park and was told that I could rent it for $1,425 - anybody looking for a place to live?

What's Your Neighborhood's Walk Score?

Is your neighborhood walkable? I don't mean taking an afternoon stroll walkable, I mean being able to walk to the grocery store and to restaurants walkable. If you're curious how a neighborhood ranks on the walkability scale, check out Walk Score.

The setup is simple: you enter your address and Walk Score will rate the walkability of your location on a scale of 1-100. Here's the breakdown:

• 90 - 100 = Walkers' Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
• 70 - 90 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car.
• 50 - 70 = Some Walkable Locations: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.
• 25 - 50 = Not Walkable: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
• 0 - 25 = Driving Only: Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!

My home address scored a miserable 14, making it a driving only area. My work address, however, right next to West Town Mall, got a much higher 75.

Unfortunately, one thing Walk Score does not take into account is how pedestrian friendly an area is. For example, in order to walk to some of the businesses that are very close to my office, I would have to cross very busy and very non-pedestrian friendly streets such as Kingston Pike and Montvue - not something I relish doing.

But all walking aside, Walk Score is also simply a nifty way to scope out nearby shopping, parks and restaurants when moving to a new area.

So check out Walk Score - enter your own address and then come back and let me know how walkable your neighborhood is in the comments. Walk on!

First Friday 411

You really should stop by Instaknox if you haven't already. It's kind of like Knoxville's very own Twitter, and sometimes you can come across cool stuff like local artist's Steve Lareau's website, KnoxvilleFirstFriday.com. From Steve's message on Instaknox:

First Friday info around here has been impossible to find. Web sites for the different galleries sometimes aren’t updated, even the web site for First Friday by the market square district has zero information. Being an artist, it’s frustrating not to be able to find out who even participates, aside from a few places on Market Square...

...Eventually, [the website will] have a place for local artists to be listed, as well as the different galleries that participate.

The website is still in its infancy, but it looks like it could turn into a very valuable tool for those of you who actually get Friday nights off to do fun stuff.

The Cost of Driving

I drive a lot, and so the cost of gas is a subject that's very near and dear to my heart. So, when I just saw a report on CNN about the average American's annual cost of driving, my ears perked up. Here's how they broke it down on screen:

Average Annual Cost of Driving

12,000 miles

600 gallons of gas

$,1968

I put a lot more miles than that on my car every year, but let's conservatively say I do 25,000 miles annually. Gas currently costs $3.15 at the Breadbox up the street from my house and I get roughly 22 miles per gallon in the old Volvo. Keeping in mind that my only real math skill is calculating what 6% of anything is, that would mean my breakdown looks something like this:

Average Cost of Knoxville Realtor Driving Old Volvo

25,000 miles

1136 gallons of gas

$3,578

And unlike these guys out at Watt Rd, going on strike isn't going to do me any good.

If your car doesn't tell you how many mpg you get, you can use this nifty miles per gallon calculator to determine what your monthly or yearly gas costs are.

After you're done, come back and let me know what your gas cost breakdown looks like.

Get the Skinny on Your Zip Code

One question buyers, especially out of town ones, always ask when we're out looking at property is, "Is this a good area?"

Very fair question. Too bad I can't answer it.

Due to fair housing laws, not to mention general liability issues, agents really can't tell you if neighborhoods are "good" or "bad." Now, you can usually look around and see if you're in Dumpsville or not - cars up on blocks in the front yard, weeds everywhere, the garbage man is too scared to come and get the trash (don't laugh, I've seen it).

But what about if there are no obvious signs?

Try Zip Skinny, a site that provides US Census and data information by zip code. Basic information on a zip includes education levels, marital status, household income, and occupations of the residents. Zip Skinny will also:

• compare info on different zip codes
  
• provide information on schools


• show you a map marking the geographic center of the zip code
  

I looked up my zip, 37919, and found out that over 50% of the residents have at least a BA degree, almost 1/2 have lived in their home for 5 or more years, the median age of residents is 36.8 years, and only 2.1% are unemployed.

Check it out and let me know what you find out about your zip.