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FIRST TIME BUYERS ~ USING THE INTERNET TO SEARCH FOR HOMES!

By
Real Estate Agent with Sharp Realty CalDRE #01045089

Finding the best home for your housing needs can be quite challenging.  The key is receiving pertinent information in a timely manner.  Last BLOG I discussed the benefits of using a real estate agent to monitor the available homes on your behalf.  The Internet provides another timely method of staying on top of the real estate market.

Computer MouseLocal agent websites, such as mine at www.GlennsHomes.com, usually have two areas where you can search for homes.  The first is the agent's ‘personal listings'.  These are homes that the agent has listed for sale.  Most of them will be on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), though some may be ‘coming soon' or exclusive listings, which are not listed on the MLS.

The second home search area provided on some agent websites is the MLS, allowing viewers to access all homes listed in the local MLS.  Details vary from site to site, but most allow you to set up certain search criteria.  For example, it is easy to set up a search of 4+ bedroom, 2,500+ square foot homes in Brentwood priced up to $725,000.  You can search one time only, or you can save these search selections and have new homes automatically emailed to you as they come up for sale.  In this way, you are automatically notified of new homes that meet your basic needs. 

If you are considering a move to another area, you can either find an agent local to that market who has a website serving that area, or you can use www.realtor.com which gathers data from most MLS systems around the country to create a huge database of homes throughout the country.

Studies show that 70%+ of all home buyers use the Internet in some capacity to look for homes during their search process.  Using the Internet and automatic email updates is free and easy.  Feel free to experiment on my website.

Comments (1)

Julianna Hind
eXp Realty - Tacoma, WA
REALTOR, 206-679-4768, Tacoma Federal Way, Auburn, Kent, WA
Hi Glen, thanks for bringing this fact to the forefront. I am a stager and I just posted a blog today that lists a similar statistic out of the UK, apparently, across the pond first time home buyers use the internet even more! Love that your offering your website up as a guinee pig, so generous of you! May you get massive clicks!
Aug 17, 2007 05:59 AM