Notes

Believing These 5 Myths About Real Estate Agents Keeps You From Growing
Ten years ago, a search for 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'll spend a day flipping through pages of active property listings from the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). After choosing properties of interest, you'll spend many weeks touring each property and soon you found the right one. Finding Estate Agent Glasgow to enable you to assess the asking price would take more time and much more driving, and you still is probably not 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 probably get you a large number of results. If you spot a house of interest on a genuine estate web site, it is possible to typically view photos online and maybe even have a virtual tour. After that you can check other Web sites, like the local county assessor, to get an idea of the property's value, see what the existing owner paid for the property, check the real estate taxes, get census data, school information, and even have a look at what shops are within walking distance-all without leaving your home!

While the resources online are convenient and helpful, with them properly can be a challenge because of the level of information and the issue in verifying its accuracy. At the time of writing, a search of "Denver real estate" returned 2,670,000 Sites. Even a neighborhood specific seek out real estate can simply return thousands of Internet sites. With so many resources online how does an investor effectively utilize them without getting bogged down or winding up with incomplete or bad information? Believe it or not, understanding how the business of real estate works offline makes it easier to understand online property information and strategies.

The Business of Real Estate

Real estate is typically bought and sold either through a licensed agent or directly by the dog owner. The vast majority is bought and sold through real estate brokers. (We use "agent" and "broker" to make reference to the same professional.) That is due to their property knowledge and experience and, at least historically, their exclusive usage of a database of active properties on the market. Usage of this database of property listings provided probably 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 multiple listing service (MLS). Usually, only properties listed by member real estate agents can be added to an MLS. The primary purpose of an MLS would be to enable the member realtors to create offers of compensation to other member agents if they find a buyer for a house.

This purposes did not include enabling the direct publishing of the MLS information to the general 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 similar to an MLS but the agents adding the listings to the database aren't required to offer any specific kind of compensation to another members. Compensation is negotiated beyond your CIE.

Usually, for-sale-by-owner properties cannot be directly put into an MLS and CIE, which are typically maintained by REALTOR associations. The lack of a managed centralized database can make these properties more difficult to locate. Traditionally, these properties are found by driving around or searching for ads in the local newspaper's real estate listings. A far more efficient solution to locate for-sale-by-owner properties is to search for a for-sale-by-owner Web site in the geographic area.

What is a REALTOR? Sometimes the terms agent and REALTOR are used interchangeably; however, they are not similar. A REALTOR is a licensed real estate agent who is also a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS. REALTORS are required to adhere to a strict code of ethics and conduct.

MLS and CIE property listing information was historically only available in hard copy, and as we mentioned, only directly open to real estate agents members of an MLS or CIE. About ten years ago, this valuable property information began to trickle out to the Internet. This trickle is now 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 neighborhood MLS or CIE property information displayed in it. Another reason is that there are lots of non-real estate agent Web sites that also offer property 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 Internet definitely makes the info more accessible but additionally more confusing and subject to misunderstanding and misuse.

Real Estate Agents

Despite the flood of property information on the web, most properties remain sold directly through realtors listing properties in the neighborhood MLS or CIE. However, those property listings do not stay local anymore. By its nature, the web is a global marketplace and local MLS and CIE listings are normally disseminated for display on many different Web sites. For instance, many visit the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS Site, http://www.realtor.com, and to the local property agent's Web site. In addition, the listing could be displayed on the internet 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 compared to the old print advertising.

In addition to Internet marketing, listing agents also may help the seller establish a price, hold open houses, keep the seller informed of interested buyers and will be offering, negotiate the contract and help with closing. When a realtor provides these services it is known as being truly 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, this is due to the instant access most consumers now have to property listings along with other real estate information. Furthermore, the Internet along with other technologies have automated much of the marketing and initial searching process for real estate. For instance, consumers can view properties online and make inquires via email. Brokers may use automated programs to send listings to consumers that match their property criteria. So, some agents now limit the services they provide and change their fees accordingly. An agent may offer to advertise the house in the MLS but only provide limited additional services. Down the road, some real estate agents may offer services in more of an ala carte fashion.

Because of the level of real estate information on the Internet, when people hire a real estate 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 friends and family. The Internet now provides ways to directly find qualified agents or even 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 also create a connect to their web site for free. 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 end. It could change the role of the agent but will make knowledgeable, qualified, and professional REALTORS more relevant than ever. In fact, the quantity of realtors has risen significantly recently. No wonder, the Internet has made local property a worldwide business. Besides, Internet or not, the simple fact remains that the purchase of real property is the largest single purchase a lot of people make within their life (or, for most investors, the largest multiple purchases over an eternity) and they want expert help. As for the MLS, it remains the most reliable source of property listing and sold information available and continues make it possible for efficient marketing of properties. So, what is the function of all the online real estate information?
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