Real Estate Agents and the Internet – How to Buy and Sell Real Estate Today

Ten years ago, a search for real estate would have started in the office of an area real estate agent or by simply driving around town. At the agent’s office, you’ll spend an afternoon flipping through pages of active property listings from the local MLS (MLS). Estate Agents Glasgow After choosing properties of interest, you would spend weeks touring each property and soon you found the correct one. Finding market data to help you assess the price tag would take more time and a lot more driving, and you still is probably not able to find all the information you needed to get really comfortable with a fair market value.

Today, most property searches start on the Internet. An instant keyword explore Google by location will probably get you a large number of results. If you spot a property of interest on a genuine estate web site, it is possible to typically view photos online and perhaps even have a virtual tour. You can then check other Web sites, like the local county assessor, to get a concept of the property’s value, see what the existing owner paid for the house, 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 home!

While the resources on the web are convenient and helpful, with them properly could be a challenge because of the level of information and the difficulty in verifying its accuracy. During writing, a search of “Denver real estate” returned 2,670,000 Web sites. Even a neighborhood specific search for real estate can simply return thousands of Web sites. With so many resources online how does an investor effectively use them without getting bogged down or winding up with incomplete or bad information? Contrary to popular belief, understanding how the business enterprise of real estate works offline makes it easier to understand online property information and strategies.

The Business of Real Estate

Real estate is normally bought and sold either through a licensed agent or directly by the owner. The vast majority is purchased and sold through real estate agents. (We use “agent” and “broker” to refer to the same professional.) That is due to their property knowledge and experience and, at the very least historically, their exclusive access to a database of active properties on the market. Usage of this database of property listings provided probably the most efficient way to seek out 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 mls (MLS). Normally, only properties listed by member realtors can be put into an MLS. The primary reason for an MLS is to enable the member realtors to create offers of compensation to other member agents if they find a buyer for a house.

This purposes didn’t include enabling the direct publishing of the MLS information to the general public; times change. Today, most MLS information is directly accessible to the public over the Internet in many different forms.

Commercial property listings are also displayed online but aggregated commercial property information is more elusive. Larger MLSs often operate a commercial information exchange (CIE). A CIE is comparable to an MLS but the agents adding the listings to the database aren’t necessary to offer any specific type of compensation to the other members. Compensation is negotiated outside the CIE.

In most cases, for-sale-by-owner properties can’t be directly put into an MLS and CIE, which are typically maintained by REALTOR associations. Having less a managed centralized database could make these properties more difficult to locate. Traditionally, these properties are located by driving around or looking for ads in the local newspaper’s real estate listings. A far more efficient solution to locate for-sale-by-owner properties is to search for a for-sale-by-owner Web site in the geographic area.

What is a REALTOR? Sometimes the terms real estate agent and REALTOR are employed interchangeably; however, they are not the same. A REALTOR is really a licensed real estate agent who is also a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS. REALTORS are required to adhere to a strict code of ethics and conduct.

MLS and CIE property listing information was historically only available in hard copy, so when we mentioned, only directly available to realtors members of an MLS or CIE. About a decade ago, this valuable property information started to trickle out to the web. This trickle is now a flood!

One reason is that the majority of the 1 million or so REALTORS have Web sites, & most of those Web sites have varying amounts of the local MLS or CIE property information displayed in it. Another reason is that there are many non-real estate agent Web sites that also offer real estate information, including, for-sale-by-owner sites, foreclosure sites, regional and international listing sites, County assessor sites, and valuation and market websites. The flood of real estate information to the web definitely makes the information more accessible but additionally more confusing and subject to misunderstanding and misuse.

Real Estate Agents

Despite the flood of property information on the Internet, most properties are still sold directly through real estate agents listing properties in the neighborhood MLS or CIE. However, those property listings usually do not stay local anymore. By its nature, the web is really a global marketplace and local MLS and CIE listings are usually disseminated for display on many different Web sites. For instance, many go to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS Internet site, http://www.realtor.com, also to the local property agent’s Web site. Furthermore, the listing may be displayed online site of an area newspaper. In essence, the Internet is just another form of marketing offered by today’s real estate agent, but it has a much broader reach compared to the old print advertising.

In addition to Online marketing, listing agents also may help the seller establish a price, hold open houses, keep the seller informed of interested buyers and offers, negotiate the contract and help with closing. When a realtor provides many of these services it is referred to as being truly a full service listing arrangement. While full service listing arrangements are the most common type of listing arrangement, they are not the only option anymore.

Changes in the technology behind the real estate business have caused many agents to change the way they conduct business. In large part, this is due to the instant access most consumers will have to property listings along with other real estate information. Furthermore, the Internet and other technologies have automated much of the marketing and initial searching process for property. For example, consumers can view properties online and make inquires via email. Brokers can use automated programs to send listings to people that match their house criteria. So, some agents now limit the services they offer and change their fees accordingly. An agent may offer to advertise the house in the MLS but only provide limited additional services. Down the road, some real estate agents may offer services in more of an ala carte fashion.

Because of the volume of real estate information on the Internet, when people hire a real estate agent today they should consider the particular services offered by the agent and the depth of these experience and knowledge in the relevant property sector. It really is no longer just about access to property listing information. Buyers and sellers historically found agents by referrals from friends and family. The Internet now provides ways to directly find qualified agents or even to research the biography of a realtor referred to you offline. One such site, AgentWorld.com, is quickly becoming the LinkedIn or Facebook for real estate agents. On this site a realtor can personalize their profile, take up a blog, post photos and videos and also create a connect to their web site for free. Once unique content is put into their profile page the various search engines notice!

Some have argued that the web makes REALTORS and the MLS less relevant. We believe this is false in the long run. It may change the role of the agent but will make knowledgeable, qualified, and professional REALTORS more relevant than ever. In fact, the amount of realtors has risen significantly in recent years. No wonder, the Internet has made local property a global business. Besides, Internet or not, the simple fact remains that the purchase of real property is the largest single purchase a lot of people make in their life (or, for many investors, the largest multiple purchases over a lifetime) and they want specialist help. As for the MLS, it remains probably the most reliable source of real estate listing and sold information available and continues to enable efficient marketing of properties. So, what’s the function of all the online real estate information?