When I try to summarize what makes Santa Clarita..... "Santa Clarita," I would think I can count on 2 things: facts are facts, and opinions are opinions. Take the population figures, for example. We can all agree that the 2010 US census should be a good source, and anyone telling you about the SCV online would use those figures in their research.
So, what is the population of Santa Clarita as of 2010?
Answer: 176,320 people living on 52.71 square miles.
Unless you are Local.niche.com (177,366 people living on 53 sq. mi.)
Or are the City of Santa Clarita (210,000 and 64.41 square miles)
Or are a California-Demographics site (181,557)
Okay, no big deal. These figures get us into the ballpark of what size our town is. But the point here is, this should be a piece of data that is not subject to interpretation. The number was 176,320 five years ago. We appear to be growing at a rate of 1.6%, so the 2014 population by MY estimate, is 187,878. Yes, I too am jumping into this game of wild speculation, and that is the takeaway.
When it comes to real estate, ALL the numbers you see that are NOT on a contract are subject to interpretation, or data gathering error. The only ones you can count on, are on a buyer's agreement. Even something seemingly cut and dry, such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms a home has, are up for grabs on an MLS. So too, are the numbers of stories, with some realtors listing a home as "single story with loft...." and listing it in the MLS as a one story.
w about square feet in the home? This stat will change over the years as things are done to a property, and it is up to the buyer to compare what they are seeing with what is on the page.
As an aficionado of statistics and general rock-solid number gathering, I like using numbers to tell a story. But earlier I mentioned there is one other method to tell someone what's what: State an opinion. Yelp, Trulia, Zillow and the gang all print out people's opinions about anything you can imagine, including opinions about laws, rules, ethics, expectations, and more. Too often, people rely on the reviews they see. Remember that old adage about how one favorable review is relayed to one other person, but a bad review is relayed to 10? That gets amplified online, where there are a lot of curmudgeons who are messing up my love of statistics telling a story. Thank God, the reviews of our services are all positive on these sites, but I worry about the power of one annoyed client.
The big takeaway here: Trust but verify. Everything. I mean everything. The entire real estate business is predicated on every single person doing what they are supposed to do: buyers, sellers, realtors, inspectors, lenders, appraisers, contractors, escrow agents, brokers, movers, landscapers, attorneys, mortgage brokers.. etc etc... If one person lets something slip, the entire process often comes to a grinding halt.
Pictured at left: 1 Bedroom with loft.
