Whether you’re a potential buyer or a nosy neighbor, finding information about homes for sale has never been easier. Younger buyers may take that instantly available information for granted.
Though third-party listing sites began appearing in the late 1990s, they were crude versions of what they are now — sometimes just online reprints of classified listings with a picture or two.
The National Association of Realtors revolutionized online home listings with what is now Realtor.com, the oldest website to offer public access to multiple listing service information on homes for sale, data previously made available mostly to just real estate agents.
Third-party sites have proliferated since, led by Zillow, which launched in 2006, followed by others including Trulia, Redfin, Homes.com and others. Individual real estate companies also rely on MLS data for their websites, for all properties beyond just what their brokers are representing.
The data they provide, sourced from regional MLS databases, has greatly expanded, from basics such as listing prices, descriptions and images, to sales histories, property taxes, school district and neighborhood information, comparisons to similar nearby properties and interactive maps. All of it is searchable by ZIP code, exact address or filters for price ranges and home types.
The data on these websites is provided by multiple listing services through partnerships and agreements, and is paid for by third-party sites. And third-party sites are updated continuously.
“As soon as there is a signed listing agreement and the seller has given a date at which they are ready to show the house, that listing goes live on Bright MLS and is available to all member agents, and is then pushed out to all of the portals, like Zillow and Redfin and Realtor,com. So it is instantaneous,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, the multiple listing service in the mid-Atlantic, which includes the D.C. region.
Older homeowners may remember their first home searching experiences, which often included the weekend newspaper classified sections, driving around neighborhoods to spot “For Sale” signs, and relying on their real estate agent to call with new listings they’d be interested in.
Third-party sites have made home searches infinitely easier, and made buyers smarter. Especially in the current D.C. market.
“Prospective homebuyers are now, as soon as a home is available for sale, expecting to see information about that,” Sturtevant said. “As inventory is increasing, buyers are able to set up alerts to become aware of new listings that are on the market.”
