Why Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com Suck for Home Buyers!
Home Buyers love Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. These sites have all the homes for sale! They also have a lot of old information. That is wherein the problem lies. Carol loves working with buyers and has for 27 years. She is just as excited about finding the “right home” for her buyers now as she was when she first started selling real estate in 1986. The single biggest waste of time for her is looking up properties that buyers have found on one of three mentioned websites above, just to find out that they are either in escrow or have closed escrow, and some of them even months ago.
I looked up properties for sale in Brea on Zillow this morning (May 14, 2013, 6:20 AM) and it said there were 220 properties (results). Now when I go on our local MLS board (CRMLS) we have 33 properties that show as active listings for sale (May 14, 2013, 6:23 AM). Zillow shows 7 times more properties for sale and 7 times more the disappointment for buyers when they call on a property and find out it’s either in escrow or has sold months ago.
No wonder buyers are confused and don’t know who to trust when looking for a home. The buyer calls an agent about a property or properties only to find out it’s sold. I know I would begin to wonder who’s telling the truth, or why an agent doesn’t want to show me these homes. Sit down with the agent you are working with and have them look up properties for you on the websites above and then on his or her local MLS provider. You will be shocked at the discrepancy; I guarantee it will be an eye opener.
Buyers, don’t give up hope, most agents have links to their local MLS providers where the information is up to date. On our website (NOCRES.com) all property searches will have a listing status: Active, Taking Back Ups, Pending, or Hold do not show. If the listing status is active the odds are pretty darn good you can make an offer on the property. A listing status of “Taking Back Up” and “Pending” means that an offer has been accepted by the seller and it is under contract and in escrow. A “Hold Do Not Show” status means that the property is effectively off the market for any of a number of reasons and thus, not available for an offer.
If you are looking for a great agent in Brea or North Orange County CA I highly recommend my wife Carol Chamberlain at Carol@carolandjim.com or 714-726-3166/text
My Agent is the best iPhone app for house hunting I have ever used. Go anywhere click on the My Agent App and what you see is all the properties listed for sale all around you. Click on any of the houses and you can find what the price is and the bedroom and bath count. Click on the arrow in the same box and it opens up the picture of the house, Description, and more photos. Slide the map in any direction and more homes will show up. There is even a filter to adjust the minimum and maximum price, number of bedrooms, number of baths, and even the square footage. Fast, easy to use, and it’s free.
