Don’t Get Duped by Your Home Search Tool!

Twin Cities real estate is steadily growing in value due in part to a limited supply of homes in the first-time buyer market and new construction market. Additionally, mortgage rates continue to rise; lending the way to less home available for a qualified buyer on a fixed income and qualification. This means timing is everything!

But, there’s a dirty little secret that mega real estate sites won't share with Minnesota home buyers… Professional local REALTORS® would never use websites like Zillow or Trulia or Homes.com to search for their own home! 

WHY? Because the information on these sites are incomplete and unreliable.

Timing is everything!

And, that’s why consumers who are serious about buying a home this year cannot afford to go down one of these online rabbit holes. To be successful in a home search, buyers need to search like a real estate PRO!

Using the wrong website or resource in a home search will not only cost you valuable time or contribute to a buyer missing out on their perfect home, it could end up costing a buyer $100’s or $1000’s more at the end of the home buying journey.

Using inaccurate or outdated published information on sites like Zillow.com® will set false expectations about a property’s features, condition, pricing or even the true status of its availability. This will lead a buyer down a path of missed opportunities, stress and disappointment.

SO. What’s the alternative?

To be truly successful, buyers need to have access to professional resources and information that provides updated, accurate and trust-worthy information about their potential dream home. 

Here are our top five tips to home buying success…

• Understand where listings on the internet come from
• Understanding the differences between Property Listing Directories & the MLS
• Who, truly, has access to the MLS and how does this help you
• How serious buyers can better prepare themselves for success
• Learn about discrepancies and deficiencies in sites like Zillow.com

STOP the frustration of false, outdated or missing information!
Sign up to receive your Free Custom MLS Home Search Feed today

 There was a time before giant listing directories existed when the only place you could find real estate listings online was on an authentic real estate broker’s website. Now there literally hundreds of real estate-driven websites providing Twin Cities buyers more property information and more home sale advertising options than ever before.

The overwhelming number of options offered by any one of the real estate funnel websites is responsible for causing more confusion and stress for today’s home buyers. In fact, coupled with television and website ads that further perpetuate confusion about listing data ownership, serious buyers often find themselves in situations forcing them to miss out on real, available opportunities.

Inaccurate information about market timing, current marketing price, or even specific options available will further false expectations and give buyers a false sense of urgency, market value or availability of the inventory.  It’s not uncommon for a buyer to call our offices upset we’re not showing a home they found on Zillow just to find out we hadn’t shown it because it was under a pending contract. Until they said something about their frustration, their trust in our ability, and the industry in general, had been slowly declining and causing friction. Getting them back on track with the right resources help but reinforcing the validity and power of professional real estate resources from the start goes a long way in keeping buyers focused on their goals and happy; less stressed.

So, where is this information you find on these sites being generated from to begin with?

Most home buyers and home owners believe REALTORS® or Real Estate Brokers hold the rights to market the listings; which is only partially true. REALTORS® and Brokers are contractually holding the rights to market a property listing as the representing industry professional for a selling client but, there is only ONE central database where every property listing is cataloged and managed, and that is the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS); often referred to as simply the MLS.

Where does a buyer turn to for more accurate information?

The ONLY place buying consumers can find the most accurate listing data and status of any true-home sale, is from the original source of that listing… the MLS.  

And, the only place you can access this information is through a licensed real estate professional with an active association membership… in other words, through a REALTOR®. But, the RMLS is not available directly to the public.

NOTE: Even the company, TheMLSonline.com, is not actually the MLS. The name was a strategic marketing move the company made prior to tighter regulations on the use of the term MLS or REALTOR® and grandfathered into use.

Websites like Zillow don’t have direct access to the MLS’s database of information. In fact, unless approved in writing prior to a property being listed for sale in the MLS, a property’s listing details may never even make it to Zillow through the process of syndication. Furthermore, because of the pace of moving inventory and the slower rate of syndication, this phenomenon is true for a large number of Twin Cities homes for sale in the market today.

Ultimately, home buyers could be missing out on up to 20% of the available homes for sale at any given time when relying a site like Zillow for updates.

The majority of the information on real estate listing-syndicated sites is pulled directly from public tax records that are only updated two to three times a year, on average. Some resources only update once a year. County tax records are great for providing tax information on a property, sometimes zoning information, but not usually much more.

Zillow and Trulia use this information to pull a database list of physical addresses in a county whether a home is for sale or not. When buyers see these addresses listed on these sites, they often believe the properties are available for sale when they are not.

Because tax record information is only updated once a year, or after a new home sale is filed with the county, information on property size, updates, number of beds or baths can be missing or false. More importantly, the property values derived from the county tax records and used to create “Zestimates®” of the property value are based on either taxable values of the property or a current homeowner’s own wishes for a sales prices (found in For Sale by Owners and “Make Me Move® pricing).  Neither of these tactics provide actual current real estate values. A professional Comparable Market Analysis (CMA) will take into account the competition of like properties in a target property’s location, any home improvements recently completed, the overall condition of the home or neighborhood, and special amenities and more. And, only a real estate professional with intimate knowledge of a market and access to professional database resources can provide a more accurate CMA.

When inaccurate information is used to derive market valuations, false expectations are set and put a potential home buyer in a compromising position. Whether a Zestimates® is valued too low (below actual market levels) or too high, a buyer who may be ‘just shopping around’ has a false sense of home values so when it comes time to purchase they’re either not ready to make a competitive offer or they may offer something unreasonable to the market. And, either of those scenarios could leave them without a home. Too low of an offer means they’re out of the running in common-place multiple offers in today’s market. Too high of an offer could put them at risk of more money out-of-pocket if an appraisal won’t cover the promised costs.

NOTE: A REALTOR® operating as a Buyer Representative can provide real-life case values to ensure buyers are making strong offers and valuable investments. Comparable Market Analysis reports are not just for home sellers.

Home buyers actively seeking out new property this year need to get serious about the home search tools and resources available to them. But, they don't need several different websites to successfully complete their home search goals.

All a home buyer needs is one really good website with reliable resources and accurate listing information they can access 24/7.  Armed with updated and accurate information empowers buyers to make strong strategic decisions about their home purchase. 

Here’s a quick checklist to help ensure you, as a home buyer, are using strong, reliable and flexible search tools so you’re not jumping from one unreliable resource to another and wasting valuable time.  Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Are all truly ACTIVE listings in one place for you to review?
2. Do you receive up-to-the-minute status updates on property availability?
3. Are you alerted when a property moves from ‘Active’ to a ‘Contingency’ or ‘Pending’ status?
4. Does the site provide you with the ability to create highly customizable searches beyond bedroom, bathroom, pricing or community?
5. Can you can sort homes by specific school districts, construction styles, lakeshore/lake view, bank-owned/foreclosure-specific properties, golf course properties, riverside homes, new construction homes, and more?
6. Can you see properties that may qualify for down payment assistance?
7. Does the website designate properties that are willing to work with VA loans?
8. Do you have a way to weed out and sort through properties you’ve previously looked at?
9. Are property disclosures or supplements made available to you about the property?
10. Do you see a full description of the property specs; room descriptions, room sizes, property features, utilities, etc.?

These are just a few of the benefits you have when I set you up with a custom MLS profile. But, Zillow (and other property directory listing sites like Zillow) all fall short when it comes to these types of search features, functions and depth of information. In addition to the lack of trust in the integrity of listing information, these lacking resources won’t help if you’re a buyer who has been sitting on the fence about looking at a property or making an offer. Don’t waste your time, energy and patience. You need to work with a professional REALTOR® to gain access to professional resources.

Ready to get started?

Buyers who are serious about purchasing a home in the next 3 months should make sure they

1. Call Homes by Ash to talk about buying goals and strategies
2. get pre-qualified with a strong lender AND
3. request your custom home search now!

Get Property Listing Updates Sent to Your Email

The Homes by Ash Team has the ability to create custom searches for buyers that are not available to the public (ex. search by school district). If you would like a custom search that helps you narrow down your options to “true” possibilities meeting your home buying needs and goals, then contact us today! Once completed we will be able to start sending you property listing updates to your email right away!