Beware of the Limitations of the Common Internet Real Estate Search Engines

If you have reached my web site, and especially this article, it is a pretty safe bet that you are both technology and internet savvy. But, many people, including some real estate agents, are not. And this fact can create a problem for you, the person searching for their dream home. This is because the content on sites such as Zillow,, and Trulia is put there by real estate agents. Those sites are not tied directly to a MLS (Multi List Service). For this reason, the information is often incomplete or not up to date. Also, some realtors do not list their homes on these internet sites. Or, they only list on one or two of the sites. And, removing houses that are under contract is often not a priority for them.

For these reasons, if you are relying on these sites to find your dream home, you could easily miss that home, especially if you don't use all three sites. That is why using a site like mine, that is tied directly into the MLS, is a better way to search for, and find, your dream home. While some agents don't list their homes on all, or even some of the large internet sites, they do list them on the MLS. Even in cases where the seller does not want a sign, or does not want the house listed on the common internet sites, it still gets listed on the MLS. That is the only way that real estate agents can find homes that are for sale. So, if you use my search engine, or one just like it, you have access to the same listings that real estate agents pay hundreds of dollars a year to access - for free. And, as I show in my You Tube video about using the super advanced search capability, the search engine on this site is far more capable than that on any internet search site that I am aware of. For example, on this site, you can search for the number of fireplaces that you want, the exact kitchen appliances that you need, or whether you want a metal, slate, or shingle roof! You can also restrict you search to homes that are handicap accessible or that are deemed a fixer-upper.

So, save yourself time and trouble and be sure to find your dream home and use the super advanced search features on this site. (Again, watch the video; if you don't, you probably won't find the super advanced search. Also, if you save a complicated search and get an error message, just reduce the criteria one at a time until the search does save successfully. Then, the next time you use it, just manually add in the extra criteria.)

Finally, if you want to have direct access to Trend MLS (the local MLS) on your smart phone, send me an e-mail and I will send you a link to that app.