Finding Real Estate for Sale: Five Tips from an Expert
When searching real estate for sale, the first and most important expert tip is to actually consult an expert! The expert in this case is, of course, Melissa Kirk, your professional licensed Realtor®. As such, Melissa possesses much knowledge specific only to experts in her profession. That said, she knows better than anyone certain “secrets” that facilitate the smooth selling of a home (staging, healthy lawns, pricing strategies, negotiation, how to list, and so on). But what we will talk about and discover here are the tips you need to find homes for sale.
The first item on your list (and no big surprise here) is to find yourself a professional Realtor®. The Realtor® will help you find a home that matches your budget and your needs. A Realtor® such as Melissa Kirk will unearth unknown data about the neighborhood you are considering, the schools in the area and most importantly, the off market homes others do not have access to.
A professional in her capacity can and will negotiate from a position of strength and act on your behalf, freeing you up to focus on life after the big move in. Further, she will help decipher the paperwork that can at times feel overwhelming to the home buyer. And of course there is the fact that you as a buyer might not know what to ask or what sellers are required to disclose in the Bay Area. Melissa Kirk will navigate those rapid waters for you.
2nd Tip to search real estate for sale
A second tip is to look at a lot of houses. Where should you look? The internet is packed with all kinds of information, some of it useful, some of it potentially hazardous. Certain obvious or near-obvious recommended websites to peruse include The Multiple Listing Service or MLS (https://www.mls.com/ ) This site will allow you to drill down as close as you like based on state, region, city, zip code, as well as by other helpful criteria. Of course, you might be advised to have your Realtor® do this for you because otherwise you may find yourself inundated with more than a few emails and telephone calls from solicitors. Meanwhile, other potentially beneficial websites that come highly recommended are Zillow, Realtor®.com, Trulia, Foreclosure.com, Apartments.com, FSBO.com, Homes for Heroes, and naturally Melissa’s own Bay Area Real Estate Experts. The value of this latter option is stated right on her website:
When searching real estate for sale, it is required by law that Melissa have your best interests in mind when negotiating a deal, and this is a fiduciary responsibility taken very seriously. She serves as your advocate with sellers and their agents and it’s important to have an expert on your side. Real estate deals have many moving parts. When it comes time to negotiation, it helps to have an understanding of the current market standards to know what you should be requesting from the seller.
3rd Expert Tip
A third tip is to check out pocket listings. What are pocket listings? A pocket listing is any type of real estate listing that is retained by a listing broker or salesperson and not made available to other brokers in the office or to other multiple listing service (MLS) members. A pocket listing may also be referred to as an “off-market listing” or “exclusive listing.”
The aforementioned MLS, for example, does not share every property currently on the market. Likewise, your Realtor® is likely an excellent networker and networking is a fantastic way to learn about real estate events in the Bay Area. For instance, in the month of August 2021 alone, several dozen real estate events are happening in the Bay Area.
Builders and contractors are also a great source of information. But again, your professional Realtor® is typically your best source. Buying a home off-market has a very distinct benefit as well: less competition. With fewer people aware that the house is even for sale, you’ll have a much better chance of your offer being accepted. This can make for a much less stressful situation and, ultimately, a better deal.
4th Expert Tip
The fourth tip can be very helpful: Set up automatic alerts. Naturally, you can set up these alerts for yourself through portals such as Zillow or Redfin.
Redfin commissioned a study that says that it notifies its subscribers about newly listed homes hours faster than other leading real estate websites.
The study compared property notification speeds in 20 markets nationwide and considered 184,206 individual properties for which both Redfin and one or more of the other websites sent out email notifications during the period of the study.
In the Bay Area, the study showed that Trulia notified within 18 hours, Zillow within 4 hours and Realtor® within 3 hours.
Even better, have your professional Realtor® set up automatic alerts for whatever type property you are interested in so you can spring into action whenever the need arises.
5th and final expert tip to search real estate for sale
The fifth tip (and Melissa could be persuaded to share more of these with you) is to watch for For Sale By Owner yard signs or Craigslist listings. In an effort to save money, some people still list their homes with a “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO) sign in the yard and hope for the best.
However, many times these people have no idea what the true value of their home is and may consider selling much cheaper than other homes in the neighborhood. Also keep an eye on sites like Craigslist for FSBO sales and jump on them quickly.
In any case, these are just a few of the many reasons you should consider utilizing the resources of a professional Realtor®. For more information about these and other tips, reach out to Melissa.