Real Estate Agents
When you begin your home search, most start on the web. A quick Google search will produce 1000s of homes for sale in your area. If you discover a home that you like on a real estate website, you can almost always view the photos online.
It is even becoming more common to take a virtual tour or see a video tour of the house. If you have purchased a home before to finding out the value of the home is not too hard. You can inquire what the current owner purchased it for, check the real estate taxes, or have an knowledgeable real estate agent run comparables. Basically, they compare what has sold in that area that is of similar specification and can tell you with amazing accuracy what this house should sell for. While the ease of the internet is suitable and useful, frequently you can be lead off target. The amount of details and strain of verifying its accuracy is a barrier most would like a professional to handle. With so many websites to use online a home buyer will get overwhelmed with information that is often incomplete.
Even from the most respected websites the data is often outdated within days. Real estate agents must secure a license in every state. A licensed real estate agent has access to information that regular home buyers do not. The most accurate data on every home in their location. This database the real estate agents use must be kept up to date by all partaking agents and brokers or they will be fined. Often times they have real estate information that has not even been submitted yet. This often happens inside of big brokerages where many agents work together to guarantee their clients get the best properties available.
The database that real estate agents use is called the Multiple Listing Service or MLS for short. Every location in the United States has an MLS. While some MLSs cover more or less area depending on the number of residents of those locations. 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 information is often available through other sites on the web. Although, there is no requirement of third party sites to keep their data updated and accurate for most occurrences, 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 houses can be tough to find, although internet experienced FSBO homes are able to get the word out on their home nowadays.
What is a Realtor?
Oftentimes real estate agent and realtor are used interchangeably. often, they are not really 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 local MLS information shown. Along with non-real estate websites that offer information on FSBO, foreclosure sites, county assessor sites, and valuation and marketing information sites. The abundance of real estate information on the internet makes sorting through and actually figuring out harder than ever before. 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 internet the properties listed on the MLS are there for all to see. Gone are the days of print advertising. With so much real estate data available it can be hard to pick the best real estate agent for you. Many agents specialize in a type of home or in specific demographic. Choosing the one that best fits your requirements will allow for a easier 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 read through as well.