Been a long while since I updated. For the last month or so, I have been in full-on house project mode, doing things like fresh paint, flooring, and landscaping to put our current home's best foot forward when we place it on the market (so if anyone is interested in a 3 bedroom home on the southern outskirts of Indianapolis [Franklin], or know someone who might be interested let me know).
Now that the facelift mania has passed, we're beginning to work with our realtor in Montana to narrow down the areas and types of homes we're interested in. Which brings us to the awesome, yet frustrating endeavor of long-distance window-shopping for homes.
There are some very cool internet resources for long distance (and local) home shopping.
Zillow,
Trulia, and
Realtor are probably most well known sites. For those exploring FSBO [For Sale By Owner], there are local classified sites or
Craigslist. But there are also local realty organizations that provide search tools as well. Central Indiana has
MIBOR [Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS] and northwest Montana has
NMAR [Northwest Montana Association of REALTORS].
 |
| NMAR |
Yet, none of them are perfect. You'll find different information for the same listing across all the sites or even the same site (when there are multiple listings for the same property).
Trulia
My primary gripe with Trulia is that I cannot specify large regions to search. What would be great is if it allowed state, multiple zip code, or map-based searching. Perhaps most people know they will be confined to a particular zip code for work purposes, but I have far more freedom. I want to be able to see all the places within the region that matches my criteria. Also, I'd like to have more granular control over criteria than what is provided by the default values in the drop-downs. Internet availability, tax information, and other details seem to be sparse or non-existent.
Zillow
I feel that Zillow is somewhat better than Trulia at the MLS game. Along with Trulia, it is an MLS aggregator that may or may not have the latest or reliable information about a listing (such as if the home is on contract or already sold). But it does allow searching by map or by an entire state, which is why I like it more that Trulia. I really wish it had overlays for internet and cell service so you could see where coverage was. Also, I really like the instant-notification for saved searches.
Realtor
Realtor.com has best detailed information and granular search options of all the big aggregator sites, but I hate its image viewer. Trulia and Zillow definitely have better presentation. Another gripe I have with Realtor.com is that even though I can save and rate homes, I wish there were folders I could publicly share so my wife and realtor could view them.
NMAR
This regional site is by far my preferred MLS shopping utility. You can share searches (and selected homes from a search) to permanent links that can be accessed by anyone. The level of details for searches is by far the best. I can actually search for homes that have "high speed internet" and have between 1643 & 2978 square feet and have (mountain views or water frontage or trees). Of course, we're assuming the listing agent supplied all this information accurately, but still, I love the search. You can zoom in on the map to limit your results and it utilizes tabs to separate views (list, detail, photos, map). When in the photo tab, it presents big slideshows and allows the user to use the up & down keys to move between the sorted listings from the search, while the left & right keys allow you to move between pics of the home. Which allows you to quickly determine interest level in the homes. If there was a hot key to "select" a home, it would be perfect.
I do wish I could create an account to save searches, receive notifications, and manage saved homes, but I just keep the window open and refresh it throughout the day.
Best MLS Search Features
If anyone is paying attention, I think the following features are must haves:
- Map-based Search
- State-wide, Multiple Zip Code Search
- Numeric Entry for Search Fields
- price
- square footage
- acreage
- Internet/Cell Coverage Map Overlays
- heat mapped by speed, network type
- Feature Search
- terrain/waterfront
- views
- style/construction type
- age
- HOA/covenants
- taxes
- utilities/internet
- appliances included
- road class/surface
- adjacent owners
- outbuildings/fencing
- luxury items (fireplace, hot tub, etc.)
- Full-screen Image Viewer
- Saved Searches
- notifications of new/updated homes
- shared searches
- Saved Homes
- Easy Navigation
Reconnaissance
No long-distance home search would be complete without gather intel on the local area. Places to eat; things to see; activities to enjoy. We've used the
city's website,
Google Maps (
Street View &
Views in particular are great tools),
Yelp,
Foursquare,
CitySearch, and even various blogs & forums (
Reddit,
city-data.com).
House Hunting Trip
We're maintaining a short list of homes we like until we get some traction with the sale of our current home. Once we feel we're in a good position with the sale, we're going to schedule a week to go out and meet our Montana realtor and visit our list of potential future homes.
