Find Houses for Sale with this Super Strategy
Shop online for groceries, car insurance, or houses for sale, you’ll get better results by searching. In the case of home shopping, you’re going to save tens of thousands of dollars and get the home you want in the neighborhood you want.
That’s the beautiful thing about the Internet — a boundless number of sites that compete for your business. There is no one single source for condos and houses for sale. They all compete but they don’t cooperate.
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.
People have so many hopes tied to acquiring a house (and dream home) yet most homes available for sale are a poor fit and a bad investment. You don’t have to setlle. When you limit your search, you ruin your chance to be happy. Google is a great help. Lots of help in finding open houses. But first, create a home search plan.
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. Here’s a few examples:
- 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
- excessive commute times? (how much can tolerate?)
- what size home do you need? How many bedrooms and bathrooms do you need?
- age and condition of home? (headaches and heartaches)
- what price range do you qualify for? How much for house, how much for renovations to improve bathrooms or create open concept layout?
- what downpayment should you have? (private financing)
- what payments can you manage? (house poor and depressed?)
- what will you absolutely not accept? (bad neighbors, viscious 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.)
- how much capital gains will you need over ten years? (you’ll eventually sell this house)
Realtor Systems are for Creating Sales
You’re not a transaction, you’re a family with a future. Keep in mind that Realtor type systems aim to sell you a house fast, not to let you get picky. They might not even know about recent crime in the neighborhood or the condition and cost to upgrade the home to healthy.
You may need to go online, or use social media listening tools to learn of bad things in the neighborhood. At some point, your kids will come to face to face with them.
- setup a separate, new email address for the house hunting project only
- find your own home inspector
- 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.
It’s understandable that you want to get right at it, and search for a few possibilities online or just call a Realtor™. That’s not wise. It’s far better to create your own web of contacts and resources. This big machine will help you tap into the biggest pool of homes and leads. I have a collection of home search resources that will give you better results than any Realtor™. And you’ll find 16 tips on homes for sale searching below too — a pro researcher’s process to help you scan for the best homes for sale online and select the right one. We’re going to get you on the sure path to your dream home — a powerful investment and a launchpad to a happy life.
Sharing is Good for Your Social Health
Please share this huge list of amazing property listing sites that have homes for sale below with your friends and family. Help them get the best and avoid the worst. This could be life saving!
Whether as a home or as a property investment income generator, you’re smart. It’s the one investment that creates additional streams of revenue from renters to solar roof panels to tax write offs.
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
- visualize the type of home you want and avoid buying whatever the market has up for sale
- 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)
- research the best cities and zip codes with good schools, low crime rate, lower taxes, and lower density
- check out the home price history in the city, neighborhood/zip code, comps for similar houses, and the frequency of sales in the neighborhood
- do an online search of the street, neighbors, and see what comes up
- 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
- 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
- find a good home inspector you can rely on to give you the best insight into the home’s condition
- 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?
- connect with many different Realtors since each of them have their own connections and opportunities — the more the better
- search online using a variety of sources and get alerts from many Realtors and Google alerts on new properties
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- ask to see the actual tax statements and utility bills
- check the homeowner’s social pages and Google them thoroughly
Is the home you’re searching for Tech Friendly? Even Millennial aged buyers forget this factor when attending open houses or showings. Tech-friendly is in.
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.
- 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 opportunties 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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