Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Partner with a residential real estate agent for special access to residential listings information

Of all the sources on your investment team, real estate agents are the biggest asset with residential listings, because of their access to all the listing details and their property value knowledge. Fostering the investor-realtor relationship can guarantee success if a special consideration agreement is made between the two. Find an agent who will supply the best listings immediately and in return give them the chance to sell the home when the time comes.

I recommend: If you don't already have a working relationship with a real estate agent, RealEstateABC.com has a searchable agent tool to aid you in finding one. The agents are ranked and the tool has a compare function that allows you to make a better selection the first time. Check with your state Association of Realtors or the National Association of Realtors to find a realtor or to seek specialists to add to your investment team.

Know how to evaluate property potential in your real estate listings choices

When searching for a property, aside from curb appeal, there are other listings to exclude immediately based on poor income potential. Homes in a nice location will rent faster. Homes that require little upkeep will bring in more profit. Pay special attention to listings that suggest a highly motivated seller either with a lower than market value price or the suggestion of a change of life situation. Pay attention to the area comps for insight into many of these suggestions.

I recommend: Find the best location to search for a home in that will be the most profitable by looking up current market conditions for the area at Realty Times. To quickly assess comps for a potential property, enter the property address into a property value tool by the National Association of Realtors. For a quick tool that helps you know a marketable rental amount for the property, go to Rentomatic.

Search an alternative residential real estate listing to find a property

Making the most of residential real estate listings sometimes means finding listings that not everyone knows about or looks at. There are listings for auctions, foreclosures and homes for sale by owner. Any of these may be hiding that special property you have been waiting for.

I recommend: Stay updated on foreclosure listings with RealtyTrac who will email you new properties as they come up. Keep an eye on the for sale by owner listings at ChoiceA. NAA Real Estate Auctions is a resource to check for auctions.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Real estate listings databases can be used to your advantage for more than just finding a home to purchase. Many databases will allow you to post your home for rent or even re-post the property for sale after your renovations are made.

Guide to Residential Real Estate Listings

Utilize online real estate listings to locate a personal residence or investment property

By Amy Jo Garner, Consultant

1. The types of residential real estate listings you're interested in.
2. Listing services that do more than provide a residential real estate listing.
3. Sales agents and brokers with experience in the market where you want to buy.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Search all MLS properties in one place

Instead of logging in to the websites for each real association in the country, you can use the Internet to view all those residential real estate listings from one site

I recommend: The official website of the National Asssociation of Realtors (NAR) remains the largest source of MLS residential listings; all NAR member listings are included. Unlike many third-party or real estate brokerage sponsored websites, you're not required to provide any personal information before searching and viewing the listings.

Locate homes for sale by owner

The 'For Sale by Owner' (FSBO) market no longer relies solely on yard signs and classified ads to advertise homes for sale. Once hard to find, FSBO listing sites make these properties just as visible as those listed with real estate brokers.

I recommend: Owners.com manages one of the most complete listings of FSBO properties. Another popular website is FSBO.com.

Save money buying foreclosed homes

You can often purchase these properties for less than their appraised value, so putting forth the effort to locate them is worthwhile. Just be smart and don't do business with companies that want you to pay for a list. Real estate sales professionals in your community won't charge you to help you find bank-owned properties that may not be listed online.

I recommend: Locate your state on the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) website to find HUD homes in your area, or visit the BidSelect website for listings by state. Veteran's Administration foreclosed properties are listed by Ocwen. Also, try the Free Foreclosure Listing site to find foreclosed properties in your state.

Buyers should find the best residential real estate agent to help them

Instead of calling 20 different real estate sales agents to ask about a residential real estate listing, find one good agent who can work with you to find exactly what you want.

I recommend: AgentEvaluator.com is a free, anonymous service that allows you to compare real estate professionals. The agents send you customized proposals of their services, but have no way of calling or emailing you directly.

Explore rental homes online

Even though online rental listings are not as comprehensive as homes for sale, use the Internet to find a house to rent if you're not ready to buy.

I recommend: RentalHouses.com list homes for rent and rent-to-own homes. The site is most functional if you click on your state and then select the community where you want to rent a home.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Although real estate agents can provide you with lists of residential real estate for sale, don't leave it up to them. The perfect property may turn out to be one that your agent didn't think you'd be interested in.
• •  The real estate market changes quickly. The homes for sale you see online today may have sold yesterday.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Be impressed by enhanced real estate listings

Enhanced listings offer a little more visual impact than traditional property listings. Many times, enhanced listings are interactive which means they will provide a virtual tour. Photographs aid in drawing attention. Online enhanced listings are often presented in a unique, eye-catching format. The hope is that investing in an enhanced listing will pay off by the catch of a bigger pool of interested buyers.

I recommend: GlobeXplorer features listings that stand out from traditional listings by using aerial photography and making the listings interactive. Go to HomeGauge to see an example of an online home listing that boasts a higher quality format than traditional listings and promises to attract more attention.

Utilize easy-to-find Multiple Listing Service (MLS) databases for US residential property

A Multiple Listing Service is a listings database. Each MLS has its own specific demands criteria but the same basic information is provided by all homes for sale databases. The listings realtors have access to are more detailed than those offered to the rest of the public. Those more detailed listings require a password to access.

I recommend: Patrick.net shows a gathering of websites that freely offer MLS listings. BusinessWeek has an extremely comprehensive list of MLS databases in this Hot Property article. At HouseHunt, you can view a typical MLS listing to see exactly what information is typically included on each property.

Seek non-traditional databases for a residential real estate listing

Auctions, for sale by owner, rentals and foreclosures are a few of the main alternative listings available. These listings provide alternative variety of properties other than those found on the MLS circuit. Most foreclosed homes listings require a subscription amount to be paid in order to access the property information.

I recommend: For a resource that passes traditional MLS to deliver a list of many other listing types, visit International Listings. Here, you will even find a site that evaluates good and bad neighbors for each property. ForeclosureFreeSearch.com is a searchable database of listings that allows you to find foreclosures and pre-foreclosures by location.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Keep current with information and other people who are interested in flipping or rental homes. Consider joining a real estate investment club. This is a great place to network with other investors and meet other professionals to add to your investment team.