For Andrea Bakewell, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker RPM Realty in Little Rock, Ark., standing out in today’s highly competitive real estate market begins with having access to the most comprehensive property and market information. With only one chance to make a positive first impression among today’s buyers and sellers, Bakewell is charging full speed ahead, taking advantage of the plethora of information accessible to REALTORS® through Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®).
A database of parcel-centric property information, RPR is built upon more than 160 million properties. Closed to the public, RPR offers one streamlined system, incorporating information from multiple sources, including public records and tax assessment info; stand-alone mortgages and refinancing loans; school district data, reviews, test scores and more.
As director of the Cooperative Arkansas REALTOR® Multiple Listing Services, Inc. (CARMLS), Bakewell was impressed with RPR from the get-go. In fact, it wasn’t long after Andrea Goodhart (RPR’s senior market manager, West Division) presented the program to CARMLS that Bakewell and the entire leadership team decided to make RPR available to all its members. “The more I started using RPR, and checking out all the neat stuff it does, the more I really liked using it,” says Bakewell, who turns to RPR on a regular basis.
Whether it’s preparing a listing presentation or working with a client relocating from out of state who is interested in particulars related to houses in specific neighborhoods, Bakewell consistently turns to RPR to generate neighborhood reports that can be sent directly to the client. “Not only does RPR allow me to answer any questions a client may have, I’m also able to summarize the information they need—and more—within one report.”
And her clients are taking notice. “They are very impressed with the reports,” says Bakewell, who goes on to say that RPR has won listings for her. “With RPR, I’m able to provide a more in-depth report that breaks down the information very specifically in terms of what’s selling in the area based on average price per square foot, distressed properties and even the percentage of homes with a specific number of bedrooms and bathrooms.”
Bakewell is also a true believer in RPR’s Realtor Valuation Model® (RVM®) , a tool that uses tax information, sale history, comparables, MLS data where available, and other data sets to provide information about property values. “If there are any other contributing factors that may affect the home’s price, such as the house being located on a busy street, I can simply go in, tweak the information and perform a refined search,” says Bakewell, who notes that the RVM is instrumental when it comes to putting the proper value on the house. “It also goes a long way toward helping the client understand how you arrived at the price.”
As a key tool in her everyday business, Bakewell encourages real estate professionals to take the time to sit down and look through the system to get a feel for exactly what it can do. “With so much information in one central location—from mortgage and sale history to legal descriptions to tax records—agents really need to be using RPR.”
For more information, visit www.narrpr.com.
