Find Houses for Sale  

If you’re used to hunting through the MLS listings, you know the pickings are slim.  To find a house in 2021, you have to broaden and refine your home search strategy.

You may not be successful until 2022, You may not be successful until 2022, however the point is that the better a home hunter you are, the more likely you’re going to find and negotiate the home you want — with less competition. Here’s how to win in this real estate housing market.

You’ll be checking more websites for houses for sale, contacting more agents, and developing your plan for winning a bidding war. You could avoid bidding wars by being first in discovering new listings, by being first to know and quickly setting appointments.

But let’s face it. Everyone’s doing this in 2021. It’s hard to get an edge on other buyers, but you can at least use Internet technology to draw from as many good sources as possible. Buyers are finding the listings on a Realtor’s website might bring more frustration than satisfaction, and very few have their own seller listings.

Some Realtors, you should know are accessing artificial intelligence solutions (prescriptive analytics) which listen to social media channels for clues to future sellers. The jury’s still out on its power but expect more of it as buyers and their Realtors are looking for an edge.

A More Integrated Approach to Buying

When homes were plentiful, few buyers would bother checking more than one source. Now that’s very difficult and rare to find good homes for sale, the mood has changed. More are willing to put in the effort to research.

Below is an integrated home search strategy that will your make your house for sale search quest exciting and help you find the best property. You can still use a Realtor, but with this you’re still in charge and your Realtor will have to work to represent you.

Seriously, A Home Search Plan?

Those who don’t plan, plan to fail. A bad choice has such serious consequences in money and happiness.  Take your time. And some selection criteria are more important than others.  List the must haves in your search and don’t deviate too far from them. Here’s a few examples:

  1. which specific zip codes or neighbourhoods are right for your family? Find zip code neighborhood ratings and eliminate those with high crime ratings, no green space, recreation, inconvenient shopping, poor roads and utilities, poor schools quality
  2. excessive commute times? (how much can tolerate?)
  3. what size home do you need? How many bedrooms and bathrooms do you need?
  4. age and condition of home? (headaches and heartaches)
  5. what price range do you qualify for? How much for house, how much for renovations to improve bathrooms or create open concept layout?
  6. what down payment should you have? (private financing)
  7. how much is your maximum financing (some sellers will ignore you as the bidding war begins)
  8. how high of a mortgage payment can you manage? (house poor and depressed?)
  9. what will you absolutely not accept? (bad neighbors, vicious dogs, radio, swearing, drugs, drinking; and now you’ll take your time to make sure these awful things aren’t next door to you and your kids.)
  10. how much capital gains will you need over ten years? (you’ll eventually sell this house)

Getting Started

  1. setup a separate, new email address for the house hunting project only
  2. find your own home inspector
  3. use all the home finding sources below

Check out the housing markets in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Boston, and Miami. The Florida housing forecast should be of keen interest to northern retirees and investors weighing the value of rental properties.

With these tips and resources you can search and drill down to find the best homes for sale, including those not listed on the MLS. Google alerts can help you find new property listings that appear on websites, pages that aren’t very well promoted, because the real estate agent doesn’t want to spend money on Internet marketing.

Don’t rely on lazy Realtors — take massive action to find all potential properties for sale and work with winners.

17 Tips for Home Searching – Online and Offline

  1. visualize the type of home you want and avoid buying whatever the market has up for sale
  2. list your home feature priorities as a guide to keep you on track (e.g.,# of bedrooms floors and washrooms, square footage, distance to school or park, price point)
  3. research the best cities and zip codes with good schools, low crime rate, lower taxes, and lower density
  4. check out the home price history in the city, neighborhood/zip code, comps for similar houses, and the frequency of sales in the neighborhood
  5. do an online search of the street, neighbors, and see what comes up
  6. check out expired listings which may happen when the seller wants too high a price
  7. get preapproved and know how much you qualify for and how you will manage paying the home loan payments for years — don’t waste time searching for homes $100k above your budget
  8. search for the best mortgage deal online – don’t get stuck with a local mortgage agent who sweet talks you into a less than ideal solution
  9. find a good home inspector you can rely on to give you the best insight into the home’s condition
  10. search online for a good realtor, and do not just call one and settle — ask questions about experience, marketing skills, sales and negotiation experience, references, communication skills, and check their website out thoroughly — is this someone who is really into being a Realtor?
  11. connect with many different Realtors since each of them have their own connections and opportunities — the more the better
  12. search online using a variety of sources and get alerts from many Realtors and Google alerts on new properties
  13. before you go to a showing, create a spreadsheet chart that lists each feature you must have and below some nice to have’s and give them a 1 to 3 rating each – bold the top 3 must haves.
  14. measure your furniture and list them on a piece of paper and when you arrive at the home, sketch out the home layout and its dimensions – you can review them later when you have more time to think about everything you need in this home — don’t be impulsive but instead be critical, because if you like it, you’ll get your endorphin boost later
  15. pretend you’re a home inspector and walk around the property and the neighborhood — get a feel for this location and whether you feel comfortable, and take note of the attitude of your neighbors — you’ll be seeing them often
  16. take lots of photos inside the home – zoom in on the kitchen, bathroom, so you’ll have these for future reference when you’re comparing homes
  17. ask to see the actual tax statements and utility bills
  18. check the homeowner’s social pages and Google them thoroughly

Before you buy, make sure you learn more about the housing market, (e.g., Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas, Charlotte, Seattle, and Vancouver). These are exceptionally hot markets where you’ll find high priced properties. For other lower priced markets see the cities page. Learn more about cities at city-data.com.

Best Places to Search for a Home

Looking in all the wrong places? There’s a cure for that — the right places. Take your time and peruse all of these so you craft a better understanding of the home search process. And check out this list of cities with the lowest prices. and this list of best cities for buying income properties.

  • Homes for Sale in Los Angeles – Search for dream properties in LA – owners list in Dream Homes Magazine to reach the wealthy clientele.
  • Homes for Sale in San Diego – Dream Homes has the best coverage of San Diego.
  • Luxury Homes for Sale above $10 Million+ For the world’s wealthiest 1%, Mega Dream Homes is the place to visit. Find a super luxury home real estate agent.
  • Homes for Sale in New York – Zillow is one site you need to use more often. They operate outside of the MLS system and can help you find additional properties.
  • Homes for Sale Silicon Valley CA – Sothebys has its own set of luxury home listings in the lucrative market in Silicon Valley.
  • Homes for Sale San Francisco – Century 21 is yet one more channel to search in the scarce San Francisco market.
  • Luxury Homes for Sale San Jose CA – Luxury Portfolio has additional opportunities you should get connected with.
  • Homes for Sale Seattle – Redfin could be an aid to your search in 2017.
  • Find new homes for sale in Canada at Buzzbuzzhomes.
  • How about a new home in Phoenix via the New Home Source?
  • Check out Boston’s hot home market with Coldwell Banker Realty
  • Search for Bargains in Calgary Alberta – The Saudis are already jacking up the price of oil and guess who has oil? Calgary Home Boys know the Calgary market.
  • Movoto is yet another resource to help you find homes in Chicago.
  • Homes for Sale Salt Lake City – How about Ziprealty for a unique selection of properties.
  • Denver Home search – should foreclosures be a part of your search?
  • Condo investments in Miami – Are condos good investments?
  • I wouldn’t recommend Craiglist real estate to find Atlanta homes for sale right now, however in a few years, it might be a relevant source.
  • How about searching an FSBO site for Homes for sale in Denver?
  • Find a home in Houston with Better Homes and Gardens
  • Dallas homes searches using an auction service?
  • Keller Williams is yet one more search option in Philadelphia
  • Search the scarce listings of homes in Vancouver for sale on Point2point.
  • If you’re patient and want a lower initial investment point in your home investment strategy you could keep informed with distressedpropertiessale.com
  • Find the best bargain properties via the Times Picayune in New Orleans.
  • Looking for investment property in San Antonio? Asking an experienced income property investor could be helpful.

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