When you start your home search most begin on the internet. A quick Google search will generate 1000s of homes for sale in your area. If you discover a house that you desire on a real estate website you can almost always view the photos online.
It is even becoming more common to take a virtual tour or see a video tour of the home. If you have purchased a home before to finding out the value of the home is not too hard. You can check what the current owner bought it for check the real estate taxes or have an experienced real estate agent run comparables. Basically they compare what has sold in that community that is of comparable specification and can tell you with amazing accuracy what this home should sell for. While the simplicity of the internet is convenient and helpful often times you can be lead astray. The amount of information and difficulty of verifying its accuracy is a hurdle most would prefer a professional to deal with. With so many resources to use online a home buyer will get overloaded with information that is often incomplete.
Even from the most trusted websites the data is often old within days. Real estate agents must secure a license in every state. A licensed real estate agent has access to information that normal people do not. The most up to date information on every home in their area. This information the real estate agents use has to be kept up to date by all partaking agents and brokers or they will be fined. frequently they have real estate information that has not even been submitted yet. This frequently happens inside of large brokerages where many agents work together to make sure their clients get the best houses available.
The database that real estate agents use is called the Multiple Listing Service or MLS for short. Every place in the United States has an MLS. While some MLSs cover more or less area be contingent on on the number of residents of those areas. The first purpose of an MLS is to allow participating real estate agents to make offers on properties to other agents when they find a buyer. The MLS home information is often accessible through other websites on the internet. often there is no requirement of third party sites to keep their information updated and accurate for most situations for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) properties cannot be directly added to an MLS because the owners is not a participating member of the local Realtor association.
FSBO homes can be difficult to find although web savvy FSBO homes are able to get the word out about their home today.
What is a Realtor? Oftentimes real estate agent and realtor are used interchangeably. However they are not really the same. A Realtor is a licensed real estate agent who is also a member of the National Association of Realtors. Realtors have to comply with a strict code of ethics and conduct. Many real estate agents now have their own sites with their area MLS information displayed. Along with non-real estate sites that provide information on FSBO foreclosure sites county assessor sites and valuation and marketing information sites. The abundance of real estate data on the web makes sifting through and actually figuring out harder than ever before. Despite the flood of real estate information available many properties are still sold through real estate agents listings on the MLS. With the rise of the web the houses listed on the MLS are available for all to see. Gone are the days of print advertising. With so much real estate data existing it can be tricky to pick the best real estate agent for you. Most agents specialize in a type of sale or in specific demographic. Picking the one that best fits your requirements will allow for a easier home buying experience than with a real estate agent that you don’t connect with. All established agents will have reviews available online for you to read through as well.