SUQ for the realtors - Zillow vs realtors lists? (sale, houses)

[dpbarr2000]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

I think Zillow computer goes out and gets listings from the mls. I have seen stuff show up on the MLS before Zillow. The exception is sometimes foreclosures show up on Zillow and not the mls. Also the FSBOs show up on Zillow and not the MLS.

Realtors can correct me, but this is what I have seen.

FYI Michael Saunders has a user friendly website. Not recommending them, just recommending their website.

Zillow posts "foreclosures" which are actually lis pendens (pre-foreclosures) from data they scrape from the public tax records.

Lis pendens homes are never available for sale and are never sold directly to consumers. These properties have to be foreclosed on, and even then, the banks do not sell them until they list them with a Realtor or put them up for auction.

[03bluecoupe]

Thanks dpbarr2000, kind of cements what I've thought and others have said. Seems like it's best use would be to simply get "ball park" ideas of what's happening in the areas. I just don't want to start taking up a realtors time until we're positive that we want to move to areas: x,y,z. I use MLS and will look into the other listed above but searching MLS is kind of a pita compared to Zillow so I just peruse that for a general idea.

Thanks

[dpbarr2000]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

I think Zillow computer goes out and gets listings from the mls. I have seen stuff show up on the MLS before Zillow. The exception is sometimes foreclosures show up on Zillow and not the mls. Also the FSBOs show up on Zillow and not the MLS.

Realtors can correct me, but this is what I have seen.

FYI Michael Saunders has a user friendly website. Not recommending them, just recommending their website.

Originally Posted by 03bluecoupe

Thanks dpbarr2000, kind of cements what I've thought and others have said. Seems like it's best use would be to simply get "ball park" ideas of what's happening in the areas. I just don't want to start taking up a realtors time until we're positive that we want to move to areas: x,y,z. I use MLS and will look into the other listed above but searching MLS is kind of a pita compared to Zillow so I just peruse that for a general idea.

Thanks

Zillow is OK to get general information but when you've made a decision on which area to concentrate on you need a good local Realtor.

[03bluecoupe]

Yep, agree 100%. We have a realtor lined up but don't want to take up her time until we know for sure what area/s we are interested in and when.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by 03bluecoupe

OH... SUQ = Stupid User Question, just to clarify.

Is it safe to "assume" that there are more houses on the market than shown on Zillow? Is it also safe to "assume" that realtors get the listings well before they show up on the MLS and or Zillow sites?

Just curious how it works.

On your question about "Realtors getting listings before they appear on the MLS". I list a bank owned homes and yes we do get a "heads up" before we list homes on the MLS. We usually get a notification from our banks that we will be getting a new bank listing about three weeks prior to it appearing on the MLS. In that time we do what's called a BPO or Brokers Price Opinion to give the bank an idea of how to price the home. They also order an independent appraisal on the home and have another local Realtor in the area do a BPO on the home as well. We order the locks changed and a "trash out" prior to the home being listed and then if there is anything else that the bank may want done, we order that too-pool cleaned, painted, etc.

If I have a client looking in a certain area for a specific type, style, etc of home, I can alert them that I will be listing a new bank owned home and the timeframe I expect it to be listed.

So, to answer your question, yes, I often get a heads up on homes before they are available on the MLS.

[03bluecoupe]

Thanks SoFlGal! This thread has been very useful to me. One thing it has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt is that Zillow is bunk. The Listingbook site has been a real eye-opener. Zillow had us thinking we could get xyz house in the area when listingbook has shown that it's a much tighter market than we thought from zillow-browsing. When we go back down in a couple of months, we need to sit down with the realtor we spoke to last month and see if what we thought we could get is even close to reality of if we're suckin' wind.

Many thanks for the replies, you folks have been VERY helpful!

[Yabbadabbadu]

Based on recent experience: I would recommend that a good local real estate agent is an absolute must over any websites. Also, Realtor.com for me is tops for comprehensive and fresh information.

Factoids from our recent experience in Sarasota area search:
- Photos on the internet can be deceiving. We found a place that looked great on paper and in photos. In person, the smell and the areas that the photographer didn't cover were horrible. Lesson for us - it may look great in the online searches but the neighborhood or unit itself might really stink.

- We too have been looking in the Sarasota area for a condo for a few months from long distance. We found a good realtor who put our criteria into a MLS report that was emailed to us each morning. We would then check out the online sources for each listing to winnow down the number we would want to visit personally when in town.

- I thought that the MLS report for each property should have uniform information with all boxes filled in. Wrong assumption. If the info is not inputted then you dont see it. I spent a lot of time asking questions about different listings since the info was incomplete or inconsistent on the MLS sheet and our realtor would then call the listing agent for answers. Sometimes I thought that realtor.com had more useful information than the MLS report (previous sales data for the property, easier to find with the clickable map over static mls report map, etc.)

( I could go on a rant here about wasted time due to missing info on the MLS sheets, but dont want to waste your time either. Suffice to say that you should not treat the MLS as fully comprehensive for the info you need.)

- We found a way to look through the daily MLS report sheet of listings within our criteria and then look at mostly realtor.com for additional info and an overall background. I found the trulia and zillow info incomplete sometimes and mostly lacking data such as previous sales data, monthly fees, etc. Those two really are nice for the snapshot search or the map view with suddenly-appearing-listings-as-you-move-the-area-viewed which realtor.com does not do well. However, Realtor.com consistently was what I would use to figure out more from the daily report of what seemed within our parameters in certain areas.

Even then, it took two trips down to Sarasota over the past three months and several visits to certain neighborhoods with our realtor to finally choose a place that we really liked, didn't have oddities, etc. that no online tool could effectively address. I am pleased that we were able to sign a contract this week and really liked the professionalism of our realtor and many others we met from the Sarasota area.

If you are still reading: one funny story when, despite my trashing of MLS sheets, the sheet was most accurate was an address for a condo and the sheet actually had directions that we didnt bother to read. My realtor and I were inputing the address on our phone and car GPS units each time we went to the wrong place. After all four GPS units took us to wrong addresses or at least not the one for the listing, we finally just looked at the MLS sheet again to call the listing agent and found that it already had detailed directions! We were very late for the showing appointment and the owner had been sitting around waiting/was obviously upset with us. She did not believe us when we told her that four of our GPS units couldnt find her place.

[03bluecoupe]

lol - of course I'm still reading. I've gotten a lot of good, sound advice, tips, etc from this thread. We've come to the conclusion that realistically our timeline is as follows:

We're spending a couple of months in the area this summer to see first hand how "bad" the heat and humidity are during the summer. I don't think it will be a problem as most everyone says that while it does get brutally hot and humid, you can still do things outside in the mornings and evenings. That's a definite improvement from staying in all of the time in the winter up north (we hate the cold and snow).

So, assuming we're ok with the temps, the next step is to probably sell our house in the north, rent a place in the area for 6 months and move to the rental so we're local during the search and have the cash in the bank at the ready when we find the right house.

Toward that end, we are putting together a list of: "Must haves", "would like to haves", and "no biggies but if it has them, that'd be great" items for our house search. We already know the areas we're focused on so if we sit down with a realtor with that list it should narrow things down.

Of course we're going to sit down with the realtor this summer while we're there with our list and see if we're even in the realm of reality with our list vs price range.

In the meantime, I'll continue to browse all of the sources listed above just to stay up with how things are trending.

I may be way off base here but this seems like the most practical way to proceed. One thing is absolutely certain though, we have to GET THE **** OUTTA NY!

[ahvolare]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

My realtor always seems to hear from her buds when they have a listing coming. She will say things like I know there is a house coming on this street and it is going to be priced about $xxx.

So it probably depends on whether the realtor is plugged in, either from being in a big firm, or just knowing everyone.

who is your realtor? I am looking. thank you

[sellinghappiness2u]

The best way to find a home is to work with a licensed realtor. Not all available homes are listed on zillow or any of the other popular websites. As a licensed professional, it is up to me if I choose to show my listings in zillow, realtor.com, etc. I hope this helps! Go with a professional for best choices and all options. Good luck!