Timing counts when it comes to buying a home. The last thing you want to do is get stuck in the middle of a hot seller’s market, but the good side is that real estate—like all economic forces—is cyclical. A way to find out what your market is like on your own is by flipping through the Sunday real estate section of the newspaper for a few weeks, running your finger down the list of single-family homes and attached housing options (condos, town homes, etc.) available in your targeted area. You can also log on to a local real estate brokerage’s Web site to gain access to certain parts of the MLS (multiple listing service, where all of the properties for sale in an area are compiled) system via a system known as ‘‘broker reciprocity.’’ Use the service by first finding a local real estate site, then clicking on a link that will be labeled something like, ‘‘view all local MLS listings.’’ After putting in some parameters (house size, number of bathrooms, etc.), you’ll get a listing of homes available in the area. Individual real estate offices, agents, and companies like BuyOwner.com (www. buyowner.com) also list homes for sale, searchable by geographic region.
No comments:
Post a Comment