For our newest neighbors....how did you find your home? (San Antonio: real estate, mover)

[wCat]

I have a family member that is thinking about listing their house here. They have gotten all kinds of info from realtors they've interviewed.....but I want to know from the people that moved here from out of state....where did you start?

Did you start with an internet search before finding a realtor? I know locally there is Mysanantonio.com real estate section....and SABOR (San Antonio Board of Realtors) as well as the separate agencies web sites. The only one I know about that is on a national level is Realtor.com. That's where I would start if I were looking to move out of state.

Are there other's? I want to help them be sure they are getting maximum exposure to the widest market.

So here's the list they have so far:

Realtor.com
Mysanantonio.com
Sabor.com
Listing Agency website

others?????

BTW - Realtor.com is the official web site for the National Association of Realtors or NAR. Why would a real estate company NOT have a full listing complete with numerous pictures on such a large web site? Is it too expensive??? I'm I overestimating the importance of that exposure for people OUTSIDE of Texas?

[hadleyzoo]

When we got orders to move down here from Alaska, I did a lot of research on the internet, specifically realtor.com. I'd find homes, then look up the schools, driving distance to the base, etc and narrowed it down to the areas I was most interested in. We used USAA mover's advantage so they put us in contact with a realtor and he worked with us on our "wants" and "needs". He did say that we were probably the easiest clients to work for since I had already narrowed down the area we wanted to live.

Tiffany

[wCat]

Thanks Tiffany. That's where I'd look too! I'm hoping others will say the same since the local data bases don't work well for people out of state unless they know about them. That would seem to limit the exposure for a listing.

[MichelleSG]

We looked at MySanAntonio.com and Realtor.com before we moved out here. As far as MLS access a realtor pays quarterly dues for their area, if they want to get listings from another area then they have to pay in the fees there or have another co-operating realtor pass on the info. The quarterly fees are something like $200 and then there's a first time fee that's over $400. I only do commercial so the MLS is useless for me but I do have it.

[kevcrawford]

As a Realtor, I can honestly say that the best way is to talk to people you know that were happy with their Realtor and ask for one to help you in your search. Sites like Realtor.com are OK, but they're notoriously slow in updating the homes on there. Many times listings will show up that have been sold.

Realtors don't charge buyers to work for them. They get paid out of the seller's proceeds while negotiating for the buyer, so there's really no point to NOT use one. They can hook you up directly to the MLS so when something comes along that fits your needs, it directly emails you.

Personally, I've spent a lot of money getting my personal website to access the MLS so people can log on to my site and search the MLS. Then if they see something they like, they just email it to me. Most of us have out of state clients and we handle all the searching for the client and it works very well.

All the magazines and other sites are really just advertising for the Realtor. They work well, but most of the time they're just outdated.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by kevcrawford

As a Realtor, I can honestly say that the best way is to talk to people you know that were happy with their Realtor and ask for one to help you in your search. Sites like Realtor.com are OK, but they're notoriously slow in updating the homes on there. Many times listings will show up that have been sold.

Realtors don't charge buyers to work for them. They get paid out of the seller's proceeds while negotiating for the buyer, so there's really no point to NOT use one. They can hook you up directly to the MLS so when something comes along that fits your needs, it directly emails you.

Personally, I've spent a lot of money getting my personal website to access the MLS so people can log on to my site and search the MLS. Then if they see something they like, they just email it to me. Most of us have out of state clients and we handle all the searching for the client and it works very well.

All the magazines and other sites are really just advertising for the Realtor. They work well, but most of the time they're just outdated.

Kevin....everything you have said makes sense. I'm not suggesting that a buyer NOT use a Realtor. I am trying to understand this for my relatives that are about to list their home. On their behalf.....I'm thinking from an out of state potential buyer's perspective that many not have a realtor yet. They may just be browsing at this point and may not have even decided to move to San Antonio. What is the best way for ALL THOSE potential residents to check things out if they do not have a realtor yet?

I personally haven't found a web site for browsing better than Realtor.com for that purpose. If there is one, could you help with that information? I think it does tap into a bigger market....which in turn may lead to a local realtor getting an interested buyer. Doesn't that make sense?

My relatives are fairly elderly....and the realtors they have talked to just seem to want to get the listing....and have not mentioned how they would "market" their home to the broadest buyer base. I'm not suggesting some ridiculously remote place on the other side of the globe.....but we do have a very large number of people moving from the West Coast and many other states. Where do they start their search from across the country?

My other question is.....on Realtor.com, some properties have numerous pictures as a "showcase" home.....while others do not. Some have links to agencies to look at more pictures, and some do not. Does the agent pay extra to upload those pictures and provide this service for the seller on realtor.com? How can I help my relatives get that kind of exposure as well? They have final say on what they do, but they are asking me to help them get some answers.

I have seen some listing agents take a lot of money out of their own pockets that they may not get back if the house doesn't sell....for open houses...and brochures and other marketing exposure. It's risky, but for the right property I can see why they would take that risk. If the property is a dump, chances are they might not risk as much money. I want to know how the seller can negotiate that kind of exposure.

[manfre]

I found Moderator cut: realtor link to be helpful in my initial searches of the MLS. Do you know of any other local ones that give info on date listed? Realtor.com is okay. I wish San Antonio was accessible with ZipRealty; unfortunately, it is not on their list currently. Zip has really nice search capabilities and provides lots of detailed information too that you don't get with most sites.

[Karen1969]

You didn't ask for this, but I have a suggestion after having just moved from out of state to SA. WE did do our research online with the help of a fantastic realtor (e-mail me if you would like the contact info) in preparation for ONE weekend of actual house shopping.

In a nutshell, the information input into the MLS by your realtor can make or break your sell. We eliminated MANY houses because we had definite things we wanted and the MLS sheet for many didn't reflect those things. There may have been houses that would have fit us, but if the MLS didn't portray it, we didn't look. I really didn't think about it much until we listed our house to sell in Louisiana and our realtor didn't include info on our MLS sheet that would have caused us to eliminate an acceptable house. For example, she didn't put in the dining room dimensions. Someone wanting a dining room may have eliminated our house thinking there wasn't one. We had her go back and make many changes to our MLS sheet.

Our realtor had us set up for about 20 houses on our first day, and number 18 was it...we moved in week before last. So, with a community that has so many doing research from out of town, make sure that your MLS sheet, or any advertisement, truly represents all of the things the house has that people are looking for. Put your best foot forward on the MLS sheet!

Hope that this helps!

[wCat]

Originally Posted by Karen1969

You didn't ask for this, but I have a suggestion after having just moved from out of state to SA. WE did do our research online with the help of a fantastic realtor (e-mail me if you would like the contact info) in preparation for ONE weekend of actual house shopping.

In a nutshell, the information input into the MLS by your realtor can make or break your sell. We eliminated MANY houses because we had definite things we wanted and the MLS sheet for many didn't reflect those things. There may have been houses that would have fit us, but if the MLS didn't portray it, we didn't look. I really didn't think about it much until we listed our house to sell in Louisiana and our realtor didn't include info on our MLS sheet that would have caused us to eliminate an acceptable house. For example, she didn't put in the dining room dimensions. Someone wanting a dining room may have eliminated our house thinking there wasn't one. We had her go back and make many changes to our MLS sheet.

Our realtor had us set up for about 20 houses on our first day, and number 18 was it...we moved in week before last. So, with a community that has so many doing research from out of town, make sure that your MLS sheet, or any advertisement, truly represents all of the things the house has that people are looking for. Put your best foot forward on the MLS sheet!

Hope that this helps!

Karen.....THANK YOU! This is what I need to hear! There are some awesome realtors out there that know how to cross their T's and dot the I's!.....but three are also too many that don't. It's been ages since I listed and sold my house, and I know the whole real estate industry has changed.

I've tried asking realtors in person, but I end up getting round about answers, or the well intentions of asking me for help getting them the listing. That's not my call.....I'm just the messenger.....and I don't want to see them taken advantage of. This home is their life savings and will amount to their retirement income. I want to help them make a smart choice.

You comments are very helpful!

[wCat]

I still want to know why some listings have pictures on a realtors web site or mysanantonio.com, but only ONE on Realtor.com? And some listings have pictures on all of them?

In the past, if there isn't more than just a front photo I wouldn't even put them on my list to consider because I figured they were in pretty bad shape to photograph. I've since learned that isn't the case. Why would a realtor NOT put all photos on realtor.com unless it was an extravagant marketing expense? Can someone enlighten me?