Real Estate Agents
When you begin 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 home that you like on a real estate site, you can almost always see the images online.
It is even becoming more common to take a virtual tour or see a video tour of the home. If you have bought a house prior to finding out the worth of the home is not too difficult. You can check what the current owner bought it for, check the real estate taxes, or have an knowledgeable real estate agent run comparables. Basically, they compare what has sold in that community that is of comparable specification and can tell you with great accuracy what this house should sell for. While the ease of the internet is convenient and useful, frequently you can be lead off target. The volume of details and strain of verifying its precision is a hurdle most would like a professional to deal with. With so many websites to use online a home buyer will get overloaded with information that is often bad.
Even from the most trusted websites the information is often outdated within days. Real estate agents must obtain a license in every state. A licensed real estate agent has access to data that normal people do not. The most accurate data on every property in their location. This database the real estate agents use has to be maintained up to date by all participating agents and brokers or they will be fined. Often times they hold real estate information that has not even been submitted yet. This often occurs inside of large brokerages where many agents work together to guarantee their clients get the best houses in their area.
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 depending on the population of those areas. The primary purpose of an MLS is to allow participating real estate agents to make offers on houses to other agents when they find a buyer. The MLS home data is often accessible through other sites on the web. Although, there is no need of third party websites to maintain their information updated and accurate for most situations, for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) houses cannot be straight uploaded to an MLS, because the owners is not a participating member of the local Realtor association.
FSBO properties can be difficult to find, although web savvy FSBO homes are able to get the word out on their house today.
What is a Realtor?
Oftentimes real estate agent and realtor are used interchangeably. However, they are not technically the same. A Realtor is a licensed real estate agent who is also a subscriber of the National Association of Realtors. Realtors have to comply with a strict code of ethics and behaviour. Often real estate agents now have their own websites with their area MLS data shown. together with non-real estate websites that offer information on FSBO, foreclosure sites, county assessor sites, and valuation and marketing information websites. The abundance of real estate information on the internet makes sifting through and actually understanding more difficult than ever. Regardless the flood of real estate data available, many homes are still purchased through real estate agents listings on the MLS. With the rise of the web the properties 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 hard to choose the best real estate agent for you. Most agents specialize in a type of property or in specific demographic. Choosing the one that best fits your requirements will allow for a smoother home buying experience than with a real estate agent that you don’t get along with. All experienced agents will have reviews available online for you to look through as well.