Real Estate Agents
When you start your home search, many begin on the internet. A quick Google search will generate 1000s of homes for sale in your area. If you discover a house that you like on a real estate site, 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 home. If you have bought a home before to finding out the value of the home is not too hard. You can inquire 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 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 suitable and useful, often times you can be lead off target. The volume of information and difficulty of verifying its precision is a barrier most would like a professional to deal with. With so many resources to use online a home buyer will get overloaded with data that is often incomplete.
Even from the most trusted websites the information is often outdated within days. Real estate agents must secure a license in every state. A licensed real estate agent has access to data that regular people do not. The most up to date data on every home in their area. This database the real estate agents use must be maintained up to date by all partaking agents and brokers or they will be fined. frequently they have real estate information that has not even been published yet. This often happens inside of large brokerages where many agents work together to guarantee their buyers get the best homes in their area.
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 be contingent on on the number of residents of those locations. The first 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 accessible through other websites on the internet. Although, there is no requirement of third party websites to maintain their data updated and accurate for many occurrences, for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) houses cannot be directly uploaded to an MLS, because the owners is not a paying member of the local Realtor association.
FSBO properties can be tough to find, although web experienced FSBO homes are able to get the word out on their property nowadays.
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 are required to comply with a strict code of ethics and conduct. Often real estate agents now have their own websites with their area MLS data displayed. Along with non-real estate sites that offer information on FSBO, foreclosure sites, county assessor sites, and valuation and marketing information sites. The excess of real estate data on the internet makes sorting through and actually figuring out more difficult than ever. Despite the flood of real estate information available, most houses are still sold 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 information existing it can be tricky to pick the best real estate agent for you. Many agents specialize in a type of property or in specific client. 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 connect with. All established agents will have reviews available online for you to read through as well.