Searching for Homes
You now have your pre-approval letter, found an experienced agent, and are ready to start your home search!
Searching for homes can be a tedious process. Today there are a ton of websites you can go to that will show you homes available for sale. I’m going to try and let you know what to look for and some of the best websites and methods that I recommend to use in your home search.
Triangle Multiple Listing Service or TMLS
Most homes that are for sale and you will find online are ones that are listed with a Realtor and our put in to the Multiple Listing Service or MLS. Our local MLS is call the Triangle Multiple Listing Service or TMLS. Once listings are put in the MLS system they are then sent out in an internet data exchange program or IDX that sends provides the data to many different website. Each website may have different information it chooses to get from the MLS but it is all being pulled from the same source. All of your major Real Estate companies use a form of IDX to run their Home Searches on their website, in the end they are all pulling their information from the MLS.
Custom Search from the TMLS
With that said I would say the way to receive the most information, the most updated information, and the most accurate information is to have a Realtor set you up with a custom search in the MLS system that can email you full MLS sheets on every property that meets your search. Realtors that are a little more technologically savvy can even set you up with a website that updates with all of the properties that meet your search and enables you to make notes, delete ones you are not interested in, and mark favorites for you agent to review. The one drawback to this method is your search criteria. The agent can make the search criteria very specific so the properties must meet that search to come up. The broader you make the search the more properties you will see. You may initially think you need 1 Acre of land, but you then realize 0.6 is what you need to adjust to in order to get what you want so the search must be adjusted.
So what you may want to consider is having a Realtor set you up with a search from the MLS and then complement that with searching on one of the other sites that pulls from the MLS. Click here to see more information on the Custom Search from the MLS system and how we can set you up!
Popular Sites for Searching & Information on Each One
Realtor.com – This is the most searched site of all. The good thing about Realtor.com is that it does update quite often and they do show you all of the listings. The bad thing is they limit information depending on how much the listing agent or company pays them yearly so you will miss many pictures and virtual tours that are available.
Remax.com – This is the most visited major Real Estate company search. The site does show all of the listings and updates daily. A map search is available as well as more basic search methods. Each listing does provide every picture available from the MLS as well as the Virtual Tour if available. The downside is depending on where you are searching it requires you to register to view complete information. See the next site to see how to avoid this.
AliceRay.com – This is our website and it is powered by remax.com. It has all of the features the remax.com search has without the requirement for registration! We give you everything without registration.
Craigslist.org – Many people are now looking at Craigslist.org for listings. You can find listings posted by Realtors but there is usually limited information and you will be seeing only a small number of listings available. This is a popular spot for For Sale By Owners but you generally find that these houses are overpriced and can be very hard to purchase without help. A Realtor representing you as your buyer’s agent can try to help you in purchasing a For Sale By Owner so you may still want to contact a buyer’s agent if you think the home for you is a For Sale by Owner.
Other Major Real Estate Companies – Just like Remax.com all other major real estate companies use a form of IDX which pulls information from the TMLS. You can feel fairly confident you will see all of the listings but some may limit what you see. I would not discourage you from any major real estate company’s home search as most are fairly good. Just remember that you may prefer to contact your agent about any of the listings you find because they will be the one representing you and should be your first source for further information.
Zillow.com, Trulia.com, Homes.com, Homegain.com, Etc. – These are sites that offer national home search websites that are not affiliated with the National Association of Realtors. These sites are uploaded property information mainly from third party company a realtor advertises through or from the listing agent directly. Because this is the method they get their information you will not see all of the listings.
Bottom Line
Call or email your Realtor and let them know what you are looking for and get them to set you up with a search directly from the MLS, preferably the webpage method (known as the Client Gateway in our TMLS system), and then do some searching on your own at www.AliceRay.com! (or one of the major real estate companies searches....I mainly add this because I want you to know we do show you everything that is available on our website!)
Click here to have your Client Gateway set up.
Once you have done some searching you may want to drive around and check out some of the neighborhoods various homes are located in. You can begin to narrow down your search. Your goal is to have a 5 or 6 homes you feel would fit you best to view with your agent. If you are unfamiliar with the area you may need to drive around to get a feel for the area and possibly have your agent give you a brief tour of a few neighborhoods and the area to help you familiarize yourself before you pick which homes you may want to see.
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