Online House Hunting

When you are looking to buy a house, do you search online for listings or do you rely on your realtor ....?

to give you the listings available in your area?

Public Comments

1. Search everywhere, realtors, craigs list, online, wherever you can find the best deal. If you dont have a realtor, you can hire a real estate attorney and an inspector to assist you for usually less than a realtor gets. Dont give up on any avenue or you may miss a great deal.
2. There isn't any reason why you can't search online yourself, as well as use your realtor. However, I can tell you that your Realtor can set up automatic searches and run them each morning to see what may have come onto the market the day before. Even Realtor.com doesn't get the information that quickly. But you may find something that is a FSBO, and you could have your Realtor arrange for you to view it. So it works both ways. Best of luck! And thanks for being in the market.
3. Do both - also if you're just out driving and see a house with a sign in front of it, call your realtor and tell them you'd like to see it. If you're SEARCHING online yourself, then your realtor's doing a poor job. They should be finding the places for you and recommending them, that's what they're getting paid for. But, asking them to get you into something that you see for sale is reasonable - you just shouldn't have to go through the effort to LOOK for houses that you wanna see.
4. Well I just signed a contract to buy a home 4 days ago. Most of the houses the Realtor and I found to view were exactly the same. With the access of the MLS through the Internet now, we as the buyer have pretty much the same access as the Realtor. When we spoke on houses to look at, my Realtor suggested the same ones I had viewed on the Internet. The house I bought was the exact same one we had viewed on the same day. I really enjoyed sawbuck.com and redfin.com. They give good background information on homes for sale. Good luck!
5. Do both...I have had problems with Realtors...some seem to want to put me in a neighborhood that they feel I belong in instead of where I requested . I have always gone online, newspaper, free real estate magazines...etc. Good hunting
6. If you don't want to use a realtor, or you want to search for yourself in addition to what your realtor is finding.... I'd suggest craigslist, or if you are in the Los Angeles area, do a guest search at www.themls.com
7. I would say BOTH. I am a realtor who works mostly with buyers. In the old days, the realtor was the source of information about homes for sale, so buyers were at the mercy of what their realtor would show them. However, times have changed. Many realtors now have websites that have the entire MLS on them. All of the homes that are currently on the market, listed with a realtor, have descriptions, pictures and all information about the homes, so you can do your own search. There is no reason why you can't both search and come up with homes that you actually want to see. With the MLS search options for the public, you can sift through many homes and eliminate many of them, which (in the past) your realtor might have recommended. Finding a property to purchase has become much more efficient because of the internet. It has also empowered buyers so they can make many of their own decisions instead of depending on their realtors. Often the photos on line will allow you to discard obviously unsuitable properties. Many realtor websites give directions to the property so you can do a "drive by" and check out the neighborhood. The result is that you will probably look at fewer homes with your realtor, but most of those homes will be "finalists" or "favorites" and actually something you might wish to purchase. The key is to work with your realtor. Give sufficient information as to what you are looking for, so your realtor can find homes which will meet your needs/wants and send you recommendations (often the realtor will have already seen these homes). But also do your own searches, since sometimes a special property will attract your attention. Maybe that property is not what you told your realtor you were looking for, so it wouldn't be on your realtor's radar but for some reason it appeals to you. Ultimately, most of the information is now on line. But having a buyer agent is also a good idea. In most parts of the country, there is no extra cost to the buyer to have a buyer agent. Why not have professional help if it doesn't cost you extra? Your buyer agent will help you interpret all of the info available on line. Most can set up searches so you get new listings sent to you automatically before other people even know about them. He/she can recommend good lenders, help you negotiate a contract to purchase, and generally guide you through the transaction according to the laws of the state where you live, among other things. One of the most important services a buyer agent can provide occurs once you have found a home to purchase. Your agent can check out the history of the home (i.e. how much the seller paid and when) so you know how much "wiggle room" the seller has to negotiate. Your agent can also do a market analysis on the home you wish to purchase to assure that you don't pay too much. Hope this helps.