I’m trying to scope out the local (Austin, TX) real estate market. I’m not ready to commit to speaking with a realtor yet. What’s the best way to find the most recent homes listed for sale?
The real estate community uses their own private MLS typically owned by the local real estate community. They will have the most recent available properties, followed by www.realtor.com as it is owned by the National Association of Realtors and is updated daily like and from the local MLS.
The www.mls.com is NOT the local MLS. It is a referral site that charges un-necessary referral fees to real estate brokers for you to access agents. The less money a broker has available as profit translates as less money available to adequatey market your property. Consider well before you call on such a service, it has a cost and there are no free lunches. I dropped out and refuse to accept referrals for them because they want me to pay them 30% or more just for a phone call to connect you and me, adding nothing to the deal for you bor reducing costs for me. Newspaper ads, print costs, fuel and auto operating expenses, etc all have increased my costs and somebody has to pay or cost must be cut. Any broker not making a profit will cut corners or go out of business- as has most dot-com real estate sites offering unrealistic discounts or rebates weher legal because they made no money.
Your BEST bet is interview several full licensed brokers, not affiliates or associate brokers, with CRS and GRI credentials as a minimum qualification, several years in the business, should be full time agents and that also in the top 10% in their office. Explain that you want to be made aware of the latest listings that meet your criteria, they will email them to you for your review; any that look interesting to you, you will call them to make appointments for you to see. They will advise you as to what price to offer and more on any one you choose to let them help you purchase.
A top broker is looking to make a lifetime relationship that will lead to repeat business and direct referrals of business of your friends and family, not just a one-time sale, and will best serve your needs. I was last rated as #7 of 800+ in my company before I went into management. I am a full broker, full time agent with CRB, CRS and GRI designations, Multi-Million Dollar Club Lifetime member. I have seen a lot of agents come and go, but the agents I suggested you seek stay because they are successful, and are constantly tops in their profession for a reason- they perform for their clients with their best interests in mind.