09 Sep A New Tool That Can Help Sell Real Estate

Builderonline.com recently reported on a new tool that could help real estate agents sell more properties.

From the same web tool developers that brought us Walk Score, the extremely popular web tool that rates an address based on how walker friendly it is, has developed a new tool that could be just as important and popular.

Transit Score will behave a lot like its predecessor but the difference is that it ranks how accessible an area is to public transportation. Access to public transportation is a rapidly increasing demand from consumers just as the ease of walking to shopping and dinning is. It makes sense that such a tool would come from the developers of Walk Score. When real estate listings incorporate these scores with their listings they are appealing to the same consumer. A scoring tool for public transportation was the next logical step and I am surprised that Walk Score came before Transit Score.

Experts say that public transportation is becoming more important than ever. With a growing commitment to sustainability and increasing transportation costs, Realtors need to pay attention to these new tools. It is believed that families in the suburbs now spend almost 32% of their income on transportation where those who have easy access to public transportation spend around 12% of their income. The Natural Resources Defense Council has linked easily walked communities and easy access to public transportation to lower foreclosure rates compared to those without.

I am willing to bet that if you sell or rent real estate in an urban setting that you will be asked questions about public transportation and ease of walking. I think it’s a good idea to incorporate these scores with your listings like a lot of real estate companies are already doing.