It comes to my attention almost daily that consumers are not getting the information they need when it comes to their home search online. There are some very pretty websites out there that spend millions on advertising so that you come to their site and search for a home. I am talking about sites such as Trulia, Zillow, Homes.com, Realtor.com and a host of others. While these sites are useful for searching homes on your mobile device or when you are bored at work and are looking for that elusive lake home, they are not right for every buyer and they are down right deficient when it comes to current market conditions in Madison.

Big Search is Slower Search
Case in point. When I list a home these sites take the home I have just listed from a syndicated listing site and then auto-populate them. Great, right? Well if they would take the information immediately when the home was listed it would be grand, but they do not. I get people who e-mail or call me everyday who are doing a home search on one of these sites and they want to see a specific property. More often than not these homes are already under contract! I know, weird that within 72 hours a new listing is already under contract, but the truth of the matter is that the market in the popular neighborhoods of Madison are extremely hot right now. We see and hear about multiple offers on a property within hours of it hitting the MLS. So when people think that they are getting the latest information because they have set up a saved search on a site like Trulia or Zillow, they are sadly being misled. It can take Trulia up to 72 hours to put a home up, Zillow can take up to 48 hours, so can Homes.com. Guess what, your dream is home is more than likely gone in a hot market by the time it hits these national sites.

Local Search is Better, Faster and Friendlier
What can you do to be better informed and receive the most up to date listings? Yep, contact a real estate professional as soon as you can. Well, let’s back that up, first contact a mortgage lender to see what you can afford and then contact a Realtor. We have access to a system that will automatically and immediately send out new listings to you. It will also alert you when there is a price change or when the property has an accepted offer. This is the most efficient way to find your new home. As a Realtor I have access to every new listing in the area and will send that information over to you in a timely fashion. If you love to look at websites with homes for sale, like I do, then use these two sites; ForwardRealtyGroup.com which pulls the latest information every 15 minutes or WisconsinHomes.com which does the very same. At ForwardRealtyGroup.com you also have the capability to save your searches, favorite homes that you would like to see and be alerted to any new listing as well as price changes. We are always looking to make your home search more efficient so that you are not wasting hours online looking for the perfect home. We run our own site, so if you have a question, concern or need us to tweak your listing updates, you will talk directly to the person who might show you your home. That’s local and personal.

As always, if you are looking to buy or sell a home in the Madison area or you know someone that is, please feel free to call or text 608-658-0467, but if you hate your phone and talking into it, please e-mail mark@lauerrealtygroup.com