Search Realtor.com
Did you know that different home search websites have different results?
For example today I went to Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com and did a search for a single family home in Encinitas (92024) between $500,000 & $750,000 with 3+ bedrooms and 2+ bathrooms.
The source for the vast majority of homes listed for sale by real estate agents is Sandicor Multiple Listing System (MLS) which covers all of San Diego County. This is the most accurate data but still relies on the listing agent reporting sale pending and sold data in a timely manner. Some listings that are in Sandicor have been set by the agent not to publish on the Internet.
A search on Sandicor MLS resulted in 52 matches.
I then went to my favorite consumer site Realtor.com and did a San Diego home search. The system found a total of 64 homes that were active – note picture above.
Next I went over to Zillow and did the same search which resulted in 70 matches. Trulia returned 99 matches.
Trulia Search
Why such a difference?
Search Zillow
While Realtor.com has a direct IDX feed that is updated every 15 minutes, Trulia and Zillow rely on API feeds from 3rd party vendors or the listing agents to upload them directly to the site. This results are many listings remaining active long after they have went pending, contingent, or sold.
Using a site with an IDX feed is the most accurate. These feeds can be found on most brokerage websites including San Diego Lifestyle. The best possible choice you can make for your San Diego home search is to have your agent set up a custom search directly from Sanidcor MLS. I explain more about that process here.
If you have not checked out the free iPhone application for Realtor.com you should. The latest version has some great features that will make your home search in the field productive. You can also find open houses or draw a search directly on your screen.
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