You missed a really good deal today, did ya?

You missed a really good deal today, did ya?

You were watching all the websites, and you have been driving by the house just waiting for it to become available.

When you called a week ago, it was under contract, but then one of your websites said it was back on market. So you called the listing agent the next morning only to find that it is under contract. “What happened?” you demanded of the listing agent. “I know it was under contract, but myfavoritewebsite.com said it was back on market!” The property, it turns out, was back on market for six hours before going under contract again.

You, dear Do-It-Yourselfer, fell victim to a common misconception: Everything is on the web, so I don’t need a REALTOR to help me watch the market.

All of those websites that you watch so faithfully get information from local MLS systems. When an MLS opts into other websites, the information usually rolls to those sites once per day. Most MLS systems do not have live feeds to the various www locations. Moreover, some of the websites that feature listings are downstream feeds—the information populates one source which then populates other sources. All of that spinning out to various sites takes time.

Are you getting the drift, yet? Your information from those second and third party sources may not be very old, but it is older than the information in MLS itself. How can you get fresh information? Get your information directly from a real estate agent who is a member of the local MLS.

If you want up-to-the-minute information, the only way to get it is to have an agent set you up on auto-notify with immediate delivery. Your listing information will come directly from MLS only when it comes from an MLS member. You willl not have to wait for the information to roll to those other websites, and you will not have to check multiple sources.

NO OTHER SOURCE is as complete or as fast as your local REALTOR®’s source. This is not just an advertisement for REALTORS®--it is information about how the system really works.