Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does she find her next rental?
Does Mary solely rely on word of mouth to find the best gardening soil, seeds and mulch? No, today she would just Google her questions, then arrive at the nearest related store to purchase her wares. Home buyers today continue to rely on a sales agent 20 percent of the time, the Internet, 17 percent of the time, and word of mouth, 10 percent of the time.
However, If Mary needed a rental home, she unfortunately would be relegated to word of mouth from her neighbors, friends, and family, as in today’s society, 34 percent of tenants, not knowing where else to turn, find their rental home in this manner. Signs posted in front of homes for rent find 11 percent of prospective tenants, and Craigslist ads, an equal 11 percent.
Licensed agents, the logical first choice for Mary, do not have access to a central database of all of the different brokerage rentals, causing them to go online to each of the individual broker’s websites, or calling a rental agent at each firm. I feel sorry for the Marys of the world, (not a wonder she is contrary) that we have not evolved to consolidate the existing available rentals on one central searchable database, as more and more people are faced with needing to rent vs buying.
You’d think that with today’s modern electronic databases that we could better serve Mary, even Dick and Jane, so they could all spend more time in Mary’s garden growing those cool veggies.
Sandra Ware
Lewes
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