Washington Homes Finder

 Then and Now

Ten years ago, a search for property could have started at work of a nearby realtor or by just driving around town. At the agent's office, you would spend a day flipping through pages of active property listings from the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). After choosing properties of interest, you would spend many weeks touring each property before you found the proper one. Finding market data to enable one to gauge the price tag would take more hours and much more driving, and you still mightn't be able to find all of the information you needed to have really more comfortable with a reasonable market value Washington Homes Finder.

Today, most property searches start the Internet. A quick keyword search on Google by location will probably get you thousands of results. In the event that you spot a property of interest on a property web page, you can typically view photos online and maybe even have a virtual tour. Then you're able to check other Internet sites, including the local county assessor, to have an idea of the property's value, see what the existing owner paid for the property, check the real estate taxes, get census data, school information, and even have a look at what shops are within walking distance-all without leaving your property!

While the resources on the Internet are convenient and helpful, with them properly can be a challenge because of the volume of information and the problem in verifying its accuracy. At the time of writing, a search of "Denver real estate" returned 2,670,000 Web sites. Even a neighborhood specific search for property can quickly return thousands of Web sites. With so many resources online so how exactly does an investor effectively use them without getting bogged down or winding up with incomplete or bad information? Believe it or not, understanding how the business enterprise of property works offline causes it to be easier to understand online property information and strategies.

The Business of Real Estate

Real estate is normally bought and sold either through a licensed realtor or directly by the owner. The great majority is bought and sold through property brokers. (We use "agent" and "broker" to reference the same professional.) This is due to their property knowledge and experience and, at least historically, their exclusive use of a database of active properties for sale. Access to this database of property listings provided the most efficient way to find properties.

The MLS (and CIE)

The database of residential, land, and smaller income producing properties (including some commercial properties) is commonly referred to as a multiple listing service (MLS). Typically, only properties listed by member property agents can be included with an MLS. The primary intent behind an MLS is to enable the member property agents to make offers of compensation to other member agents should they look for a buyer for a property.

This purposes did not include enabling the direct publishing of the MLS information to the general public; times change. Today, most MLS information is directly accessible to the general public over the Internet in numerous forms.

Commercial property listings may also be displayed online but aggregated commercial property information is more elusive. Larger MLSs often operate a professional information exchange (CIE). A CIE is comparable to an MLS nevertheless the agents adding the listings to the database are not required to supply any specific kind of compensation to another members. Compensation is negotiated away from CIE.

Typically, for-sale-by-owner properties can't be directly included with an MLS and CIE, which are usually maintained by REALTOR associations. The lack of a managed centralized database will make these properties more difficult to locate. Traditionally, these properties are located by driving around or trying to find ads in the local newspaper's property listings. A better way to locate for-sale-by-owner properties is to find a for-sale-by-owner Internet site in the geographic area.

What is a REALTOR? Sometimes the terms realtor and REALTOR are utilized interchangeably; however, they are not the same. A REALTOR is a licensed realtor who is also a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS. REALTORS are expected to adhere to a strict code of ethics and conduct.

MLS and CIE property listing information was historically only obtainable in hard copy, and as we mentioned, only directly offered to property agents members of an MLS or CIE. About 10 years ago, this valuable property information began to trickle out to the Internet. This trickle is currently a flood!

One reason is that all the 1 million or so REALTORS have Internet sites, and most of the Internet sites have varying levels of the local MLS or CIE property information displayed on them. Another reason is that there are many non-real estate agent Internet sites that also offer property information, including, for-sale-by-owner sites, foreclosure sites, regional and international listing sites, County assessor sites, and valuation and market information sites. The flood of property information to the Internet definitely makes the data more accessible but in addition more confusing and susceptible to misunderstanding and misuse.

Real Estate Agents

Inspite of the flood of property informative data on the Internet, most properties remain sold directly through property agents listing properties in the local MLS or CIE. However, those property listings do not stay local anymore. By its nature, the Internet is a global marketplace and local MLS and CIE listings are normally disseminated for display on numerous Web sites. For instance, many go to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS Internet site, http://www.realtor.com, and to the local property agent's Web site. In addition, the listing may be displayed on the Internet site of a nearby newspaper. Essentially, the Internet is just another kind of marketing provided by today's realtor, but it features a much broader reach compared to old print advertising.

Along with Internet marketing, listing agents can also help the vendor begin a price, hold open houses, keep the vendor informed of interested buyers and offers, negotiate the contract and assistance with closing. When a realtor provides many of these services it's referred to to be a full service listing arrangement. While full service listing arrangements are the most typical kind of listing arrangement, they are not the sole option anymore.

Changes in the technology behind the real estate business have caused many agents to change the direction they do business. In large part, that is as a result of instant access most consumers now have to property listings and other property information. In addition, the Internet and other technologies have automated much of the marketing and initial searching process for real estate. For instance, consumers can view properties online and make inquires via email. Brokers may use automated programs to send listings to people who match their property criteria. So, some agents now limit the services they offer and change their fees accordingly. An agent may offer to promote the property in the MLS but only provide limited additional services Washington Homes Finder. In the foreseeable future, some property agents may offer services in more of an ala carte fashion.