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A realtor would have written that in, it would not be on any generic site.
So for starters you would be limited to which houses realtors did this. And second I'm guessing if realtors do write this in they have a pretty generous definition of nice.
So for starters you would be limited to which houses realtors did this. And second I'm guessing if realtors do write this in they have a pretty generous definition of nice.
Yes, and yes.
Some Realtors say a house is "close to the train" and it's 3 miles away. So, it's definitely not a perfect system or search method.
Search terms like "small house" and "no yard" aren't likely to work on some (maybe most) MLS's from which most of such sites draw. On ours, for example, you'd need to look for "less than X sq. ft." for small house and either less than X sq. ft. lot or less than X acres to get no yard (or search for a townhouse or condo). "Nice neighborhood" is not something that's going to be on an MLS because it's so very subjective - what's a nice neighborhood for someone who loves HOA's, for example, would be hell on earth for someone who can't stand them, and vice versa. This may be part of your difficulty besides the fact that most searches do require that you specify at least a county or counties so they know which MLS to pull from (there are hundreds, if not thousands, of MLS's, to pull from in the country - my broker, for an example, has several offices from Harker Heights to Killeen which means that he belongs to 7 different MLS's).
Doesn't help a lot, I know, but at least it explains why you're running into this problem.
That should have been Harker Heights to San Antonio, which makes a whole lot more sense!
I wouldn't use house.com or any of those other generic websites: the info is usually outdated, the houses are sold by the time their web person gets around to updating.
Find realtors who allow you to do a generic search of their MLS and that then send auto updates for new homes within the parameters you set.
And come up with some realistic parameters: nice neighborhood - not a chance; small house - what's small to me isn't going to be small to you. define it in terms of square feet; no yard = apartment
To me the key words in the OP are " in a few years". You are going to see very increased satellite resolution, faster internet speeds, and improved search functions in a few years; you can bet on that; how what will fit into your search methodology is hard to be certain of. I'm not so sure that your expectations will be met with the current search algorithms.
I always recommend people use the "MLS lite version" that is available in many areas; it can be broad for sure, depending on the zip code.
I use the RE sites for garnering information about properties,but, I don't feel that they will all exist in a few years and maybe a few better ones will be with us!
I, too, will be searching in a few years for a very specific kind of home in several different states. I don't have any specific locations in mind. My key words will be SMALL HOUSE (less than 1200 sf) - NO YARD - NICE NEIGHBORHOOD.
Assuming you could do such a search, I would expect you would get a couple hundred thousand matches, your search criteria is too general to give any meaningful results. A lot of sites limit the number of results you receive, keeps the server from being bogged down by too general search requests.
You're asking too much from house listings sites. I'd suggest initially figuring out what areas she would want to live in. There are going to obviously be lots of houses that fit her criteria, but the locations will always be unique.
Once you have the areas figured out then talk to local real estate agents whose personal knowledge of the area can help her narrow down the selection of houses in that specific area.
When I do searches on realtor sites, as soon as I put in "basement" (as in wanted), nothing at all comes up...seems like being specific in any way eliminates all possibilities including those with the desired amenity.
I tested out various searches for my house, which is for sale. It didn't come up for central air, office, or hardwood floors, though it has all of them. My agent says they can't control which data realtor.com pulls. So picking something as an option for the search will not always find you what you're looking for - even if it exists. I'd stick to the basics: bedrooms, bathrooms, square feet, garage. They seem to get these right. Some sites give the option of ordering results by sq ft, so you could quickly find the ones that are small enough.
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