Some prospective homebuyers are willing to pay a premium for a home in a walkable neighborhood, notes Josh Herst, CEO of Walk Score, in an interview with Inman News during the Real Estate Connect San Francisco conference last year.
“In fact, one-third are willing to pay more to easily walk to their work, to entertainment and to restaurants,” said Herst.
Also, Herst said, “Three-quarters of home shoppers say that being within a 30-minute commute of their home is super important for them as part of their homebuying decision.”
Herst’s company provides an online service to real estate agents and others that uses algorithms to calculate the “walkability” of any address by mapping its nearby amenities. The result is a “walkability score” for the address.
With Walk Score’s Neighborhood Flier, agents can show clients how far away features of a neighborhood — like schools, coffeeshops and parks — are from a certain address. “(The Neighborhood Flier) is very easy to set up, very easy to customize. You can print it, share it with your clients,” Herst said in the video interview.
Walk Score’s Custom Commute Report, which estimates commute times by car, bike, public transit or foot for any address, can help agents assist commute-concerned clients, he noted.
Herst said Walk Score is used by thousands of residential real estate agents and a smaller group of commercial agents. Some professionals outside of the real estate world, like those in the travel industry, academia and city government, are also counted among its users.