In January of 2004, the California Association of Realtors (CAR) conducted its 5th Annual Internet vs. Traditional Buyers Survey to explore the home buying process. Some of the results are summarized below. An "Internet Buyer" is defined by CAR as homebuyers that used the Internet as a significant part of the homebuying process.

 • Internet buyers spent more than twice as much time as gathering information prior to contacting an agent as traditional buyers. (5.9 weeks vs. 2.1 weeks)

 • Internet buyers moved much more quickly once they began working with an agent, spending just 1.9 weeks with their agent compared to 7.1 weeks for a traditional buyer

 • Internet buyers visited fewer homes with their agent than the traditional buyer (6.1 homes vs. 15.4)

• Internet buyers are typically younger, have higher incomes and are better educated than traditional buyers and are also three times more likely to be first-time buyers.

 • Internet buyers interview fewer agents (1 vs. 3)

 • The number 1 reason Internet buyers selected their agent was that they were the first to respond to the buyer's enquiry. Other reasons included qualifications, preparedness and responsiveness. Traditional buyers identified qualifications as the most important factor for selecting and agent and also included preparedness, lowest commission rates, and responsiveness as key factors.

 • Internet buyers were more satisfied with their agents, including: the process of finding a home (95% vs. 32%), the homebuying process (76% vs. 28%), the assistance their agents provided finding a home (76% vs. 33%), how well informed their agent kept them (87% vs. 27%), and their agent's negotiating skills (78% vs. 41%)

• Internet buyers prefer to communicate by email (87% stated that email was the most important form of communication) where as 99% of traditional buyers indicated that the phone was the most important form of communication.

• Internet buyers expect a faster response to enquiries than traditional buyers