Searching for your Ann Arbor home could not be any easier these days. With third party sites like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor, the access to homes for sale is amazing! Often times, the biggest consideration on which site to use has more to do with usability than data accuracy. Which is amusing, because more frequently than not, real estate consumers want the best, most accurate information, but get lured in by a very slick looking and functional user experience. Finding a home through one of these portals, only to learn that it sold three years ago, or is no longer active, is a frequent frustration of Ann Arbor home buyers.
A note about the third party search sites: their business model has nothing to do with your ability to purchase or sell a home. Their business model is built on selling real estate agents advertising. These sites present, very nicely, the homes for sale in a market place. They then sell exposure to agents in those market places: exposure for their listings and exposure of themselves as agents. The commodity here, in this scenario, is the real estate consumer’s contact information. When you inquire about a property on one of these sites, you are not necessarily routed to the listing agent. Likely, your information is sent to the agents that have paid for exposure in that marketplace.
For a deeper dive into this discussion, here is a post on Real Estate Portals and Your Agent.
If you are looking for the best data, you want to get in touch with a real estate agent, and discuss with them the criteria you have for your Ann Arbor home. Your agent should listen well and assist you in crafting a well targeted home search. Sometimes, there are items you may not have considered in your initial home search. For example, frequently, buyers need to confirm what the home’s foundation should be, crawl, slab, Michigan basement, or basement. In our marketplace, a basement is the preferred foundation, fyi.
Check out this search solution to see all active Ann Arbor homes.
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