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Multiple Listing Service (MLS) still the most accurate source of listing information available

By
Real Estate Agent with Realty ONE Group - Scottsdale
The conclusion of a recent independent real estate study conducted by the WAV Group released in August 2008 determined that the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is the most accurate source of listing information available. The ’accuracy’ was defined as a percentage of listings on a site that matched the MLS.
 
Online real estate search engines have become an established part of the home-buying process over the past decade. Some popular real estate search sites such as Trulia, Google or Zillow rely on listings added by local agents, brokers and third-party resources. With less comprehensive coverage the number of properties being added to these sites is significantly smaller than the actual MLS for an area. Thus, the accuracy of the data as compared with the actual MLS was much lower. Some sites had as low of an accuracy as 8%! With less access to what is available in an area these sites struggle to collect a comparable, comprehensive data set of accurate listings. A site based on information from a local MLS will give consumers a more accurate picture of what’s available in a local market. Many local realtors will offer an Internet Data Exchange (IDX) search of their MLS on their web sites, and public sites such as Realtor.com or Roost.com are enabled by the MLS offering a more accurate representation of the actual markets.
 
We offer a free IDX searches of the Phoenix metro area market on our web site. We also offer a Power Search that allows you to search by individual city and subdivision. Sometimes the volume of information available can be overwhelming. We know the local area well. We can help you narrow your search and weed out properties/communities you are not interested in. Simply send us a request to create a “Personalized Web Page” for you that is automatically updated twice daily with any listings meeting your requirements. This page is available to you to review by logging on at any time. The interactive format offers detailed listing info, tax records, maps, comparisons and much more! You can categorize each listing, add comments to individual listings, and send direct email messages to us requesting a showing or additional information about a specific property or properties. We specialize in Service to our Clients.
The current market for home buyers with good interest rates and home prices still low provides a great opportunity to purchase a property. 
The number of homes for sale continues to drop and the competition for homes will increase as we enter the second busiest home buying season of the year here in the Phoenix metro area. 
 
Please Bookmark our site to search for your new home at any time: 
 

Comments(1)

Anonymous
Drew Izzo from Roost.com

Hi Gary and Claudia, thanks for the post. It's crucial for homebuyers to get the most accurate data available, and you are clearly as passionate about that as we are here at www.Roost.com. Aggregator sites like Trulia and Zillow deliver out-of-date and incorrect listings, and their users continue to waste time in their home searches, leading to frustration and missed opportunities. Thanks for getting the word out, and if you'd like more detail on the WAV Group study, please check out the Roost blog: http://blog.roost.com/

Sep 05, 2008 05:43 AM
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