How does an ordinary person get direct access to the MLS?

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by GoPhils

I'm a little confused by this. Aren't the pictures what most influences potential buyers to want to see a particular house? How can Zillow mess that up?

They can have pictures of properties that sold months ago. I have seen it with my own eyes. In fact that was the day I began to scoff Zillow and Trulia and the rest. If they don't know whether a property sold or not, how good a source of information could they be???

Originally Posted by old_cold

Another question about Zillow, etc.

If it is indeed true that so many do search these sites, rightly or wrongly, how much of the market is being missed if a property does not show up there and these preliminary lookers don't see anything to call a Realtor/ agent about?

I have read that Realtors are banding to together ( or wanting to ) to not feed to those sites.

They are a good tool for people just starting out, particularly if the properties they are shopping in a distant city. With them you can get an idea of the market provided you understand their limitations. When you are ready to get serious, that is the time to interview several Realtors, pick one, then get them to find your listings out of current MLS data.

Maybe some Realtors are, but my Realtor uses both her MLS and List Hub, and List Hub feeds Zillow, Trulia, et al. But she didn't stop there. She's a smart lady. She pays extra so that when somebody sees a Zillow or Trulia listing, her picture and contact info appear on the listing page! Otherwise Realtors who pay a lesser fee pop up at random. I have a great Realtor!

Originally Posted by Lovehound

When you are dumb just do what smart people are doing and everybody will think you are smart too. There, you have my secret!

Originally Posted by 399083453

Its a risk vs reward. I've seen a lot of very smart people loose everything over the years. Some real estate, stocks, etc. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes not.

Just one thing. I have known my buddy for a dozen years. We worked at the same company for 5-6 years. I'm a better engineer than him, but he is far smarter than I at investments. My only smart was being smart enough to realize this, realize how savvy my friend is with his financial affairs. The end result was he got into rentals in the same area as me but a year before. We own equivalent properties but he paid maybe 20 percent less. But I still have a good investment and I did the best I could under the circumstances.

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

This is often the case even with people who are sure they know what they want. Part of a real estate agent's job is to help people discover this, through questions, through showing them houses and noting their reactions and pointing that out to them, to gently helping them realize what they really, truly want. Not telling them, but helping them see for themselves. More than once I've had people tell me they wanted one thing (a fixer-upper on 10 acres in the country, say), only to end up deciding they loved a model home in a subdivision because it was more suited to their actual life rather than the life they wished they were living at the time. This involved showing them quite a few of the former, though, and gradually arriving at the latter as they modified their requirements based on what they were realizing for themselves about how their lives would change based on their decision.

I agree with you, once again THL. Good real estate agents understand people and human nature, and they help their clients find what they really need and not what they thought they wanted. The agent gets to know their client and when a rapport is attained the agent can then show the buyers what will really make them happy.

I had my buddy's formula. Same Realtor. Same area, same HOAs. I bought 2 houses and rented them fine. Then I decided to tinker with the formula and upped the top end price about $20K-$30K. After seeing several houses I realized I had made a mistake, and went back to buddy's formula, bought 2 more houses. I am today just closing rental on the 3rd house, after being on the market about a week, and I'll be shocked if I don't have #4 under rental contract for move-in August 1st.

I think I'm getting better rent than my buddy. I've been a bit more audacious in my asking price and taking the chance I may lose a month's rent -- before lowering my asking price. He seems impressed with what I have accomplished.

I didn't tell him one thing. Shhhh...!!! He has it all spread sheeted out, thinks he has everything calculated right down to the last iota. He even gave me his spread sheet. But I have been going totally on gut instinct in deciding what houses to buy. I have made heavy use of the sales comps in making my offers, and I have made heavy use of the closed rental comps in deciding how much to ask for rent. So far I have asked top price for what the rental comps say, even a bit more on occasion, and rented 3 so far with a maximum of 2 weeks on market, one of them top dollar in 3 days! Note also that my appraisals were very helpful in their analysis of rental comps.

Right now I am beating the rental comps, the appraisals, and Zestimates etc. by a ridiculous amount! I'll report in when my 4th house is rented and post what percent I beat them by.

[1insider]

For crying out loud, Lovehound, you are now quoting yourself. You are in the process of rendering the real estate forum useless with your constant bragging and expert opinions on every subject. Please try to be a responsible member of our community and limit your posts to contributory comments, not clogging up every thread with useless posts to remind us that you bought four houses this month or misguided real estate advice that you got from your crystal ball.

No, no one made me moderator. Perhaps I'm the only one bothered by your hijacking. Just felt it would be irresponsible of me not to call you out on your misbehavior. Please consider being a better neighbor.

[GoPhils]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

They can have pictures of properties that sold months ago. I have seen it with my own eyes. In fact that was the day I began to scoff Zillow and Trulia and the rest. If they don't know whether a property sold or not, how good a source of information could they be???

Eh I guess, but that still doesn't really answer my question.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by 1insider

For crying out loud, Lovehound, you are now quoting yourself.

The post I was replying to didn't make sense without the context of my post he was replying to.

Originally Posted by GoPhils

Eh I guess, but that still doesn't really answer my question.

Zillow etc. often have incorrect data, are slow to update, and their estimates are worthless.

No, they can't mess up the pictures, and I have said that IMO pictures are one of the most important things that attracts buyers to become interested in a property.

But what do you do when you call your real estate agent inquiring about the property and discover that it was sold two months ago? I have personally seen properties listed on Trulia that I knew were sold two months previously because I lost a bidding war on said property.