Real Estate Agents
When you start your home search, most start on the internet. A fast Google search will generate 1000s of homes for sale in your location. If you discover a house that you like on a real estate website, 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 before to finding out the worth of the home is not too hard. You can check what the current owner bought it for, check the real estate taxes, or have an experienced 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 simplicity of the internet is convenient and helpful, frequently you can be lead off target. The volume of details and strain of verifying its accuracy is a barrier many would prefer a professional to handle. With so many websites to use online a home buyer will get overloaded with information that is often incomplete.
Even from the most respected websites the data is often outdated within days. Real estate agents must obtain a license in every state. A licensed real estate agent has access to information that normal home buyers do not. The most up to date data on every home in their area. This information the real estate agents use has to be kept up to date by all partaking agents and brokers or they will be fined. Often times they hold real estate information that has not even been submitted yet. This frequently happens inside of large brokerages where many agents work together to guarantee their clients get the best properties 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 number of residents of those locations. The primary purpose of an MLS is to allow participating real estate agents to make offers on properties to other agents when they find a buyer. The MLS home data is often available through other websites on the internet. Although, there is no need of third party websites to keep their information updated and accurate for most situations, for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) houses cannot be directly uploaded to an MLS, because the owners is not a participating member of the local Realtor association.
FSBO properties can be tough to find, although web savvy FSBO homes are able to get the word out about their home today.
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 abide with a strict code of ethics and conduct. Many real estate agents now have their own sites with their local MLS information displayed. together with non-real estate websites that provide information on FSBO, foreclosure sites, county assessor sites, and valuation and marketing information sites. The excess of real estate information on the web makes sifting through and actually understanding harder than ever before. Despite the mountain of real estate data available, many houses are still sold through real estate agents listings on the MLS. With the rise of the internet 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 tricky 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 needs 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 read through as well.