This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Rosslyn resident. Please submit your questions to him via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!
Question: I partied too hard last night and am nursing my hangover searching for homes online. Am I alone in my misery?
Answer: Congratulations, you are among the millions of Americans who choose to nurse their New Year’s Eve hangover by searching for homes online. In fact, New Year’s Day ranks among the top three most active days for people to search for a home online, along with July 6 and the weekend after Thanksgiving. Conversely, these tend to be some of the slowest days/weeks for showings and offers.
If you’re searching for homes today, chances are you’re using one of the Big Three — Zillow, Trulia or Realtor (Yahoo Homes is ranked as third most traffic, but I’ve never heard of somebody using it and couldn’t find it online).
For years I told clients that these third-party sites were their best bet for search because our MLS failed to deliver a good client-side search experience compared to what was being offered by other sites.
However, earlier this year MRIS went through a merger and rebranded to BRIGHT MLS and finally created a respectable client-side search portal that gives buyers access to more search fields, a much better user interface, and better collaboration tools with their Agent. A major advantage of searching through the MLS is you have real-time, accurate new listing alerts, status changes and price reductions.
Check out this short YouTube video highlighting some of the new features and tools of the client portal.
I hope everybody had a great 2018 and wishing you all an even better 2019. Happy (online) house hunting to many of you today. If you’d like me to get you set-up with a BRIGHT MLS search portal send me an email to [email protected] and I’ll be happy to add you.
If you’d like a question answered in my weekly column, please send an email to [email protected]. To read any of my older posts, visit the blog section of my website at www.EliResidential.com. Call me directly at (703) 539-2529.
Eli Tucker is a licensed Realtor in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland with Real Living At Home, 2420 Wilson Blvd #101 Arlington, VA 22201, (202) 518-8781.