Real Estate Agents and the web - How to Buy and Sell Real Estate Today

Ten years ago, a seek out real estate would have were only available in the office of a local real estate agent or by just driving around town. At the agent's office, you would spend an afternoon flipping through pages of active property listings from the neighborhood Multiple Listing Service (MLS). After choosing properties of interest, you would spend many weeks touring each property until you found the right one. Finding market data to enable you to assess the asking price would take more time and much more driving, and you still might not be able to find all of the information you had a need to get really comfortable with a good market value.

Today, most property searches start on the Internet. A quick keyword search on Google by location will likely get you thousands of results. If you spot a house 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, Estate Agent Glasgow to get an idea of the property's value, see what the current owner paid for the house, check the true estate taxes, get census data, school information, and also have a look at what shops are within walking distance-all without leaving your house!

While the resources online are convenient and helpful, with them properly can be quite a challenge because of the volume of information and the issue in verifying its accuracy. During writing, a search of "Denver property" returned 2,670,000 Sites. Even a neighborhood specific search for real estate can simply return thousands of Internet 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 of property works offline makes it simpler to understand online property information and strategies.

The Business of Real Estate

Real estate is typically bought and sold either by way of a licensed agent or directly by the dog owner. The vast majority is purchased and sold through real estate agents. (We use "agent" and "broker" to make reference to the same professional.) This is due to their real estate 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 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 often referred to as a mls (MLS). Normally, only properties listed by member realtors can be added to an MLS. The primary purpose of an MLS is to enable the member real estate agents to create offers of compensation to other member agents should they find a buyer for a property.

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

Commercial property listings may also be 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 however the agents adding the listings to the database aren't necessary to offer any specific kind of compensation to the other members. Compensation is negotiated outside the CIE.

Usually, for-sale-by-owner properties can't be directly added to an MLS and CIE, which are usually maintained by REALTOR associations. The lack of a managed centralized database can make these properties more difficult to find. Traditionally, these properties are found by driving around or looking for ads in the neighborhood newspaper's real estate listings. A more efficient way to locate for-sale-by-owner properties would be to search for a for-sale-by-owner Site in the geographic area.

What is a REALTOR? Sometimes the terms real estate agent and REALTOR are employed interchangeably; however, they are not similar. A REALTOR is really a licensed real estate agent who's also an associate of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS. REALTORS are required to comply with 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 real estate agents members of an MLS or CIE. About ten years ago, this specific property information started to trickle out to the web. This trickle is currently a flood!

One reason is that almost all 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 Internet 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 property information to the web definitely makes the information more accessible but also more confusing and subject to misunderstanding and misuse.

Real Estate Agents

Despite the flood of real estate information on the Internet, most properties remain sold directly through realtors 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 a variety of Web sites. For example, many go to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS Web site,, and to the local property agent's Web site. In addition, the listing may be displayed on the net site of an area newspaper. In essence, the Internet is just another form of marketing offered by today's agent, but it includes a much broader reach than the old print advertising.

In addition to Internet marketing, listing agents also may help the seller set up a price, hold open houses, keep the seller informed of interested buyers and offers, negotiate the contract and help with closing. When an agent provides most of these services it is referred to as being a full service listing arrangement. While full service listing arrangements will be the most common type of listing arrangement, they're not the only real option anymore.

Changes in the technology behind the true estate business have caused many agents to change the way they conduct business. In large part, that is due to the instant access most consumers now have to property listings along with other real estate information. In addition, the Internet along with other technologies have automated a lot of the marketing and initial searching process for real estate. 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 property 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. In the foreseeable future, some realtors may offer services in more of an ala carte fashion.

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

Some have argued that the web makes REALTORS and the MLS less relevant. We believe this will be false in the long term. It may change the role of the agent but can 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 real estate a global business. Besides, Internet or not, the simple fact remains that the purchase of real property may be the largest single purchase most people make within their life (or, for many investors, the biggest multiple purchases over an eternity) and they want expert help. Are you aware that MLS, it remains probably the most reliable source of property listing and sold information available and continues make it possible for efficient marketing of properties. So, what's the function of all the online real estate information?