<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>MakeUseOf.com &#187; property</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/property/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.makeuseof.com</link>
	<description>Cool Websites, Software and Internet Tips</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:01:04 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4</generator>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
			<item>
		<title>The Best Free Websites To Find Foreclosed Houses</title>
		<link>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-best-free-websites-to-find-foreclosed-houses/</link>
		<comments>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-best-free-websites-to-find-foreclosed-houses/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:00:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan Dube</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[property]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=18674</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ About 15 years ago, I became interested in real estate investment. It was just after I&#8217;d started my first job in Connecticut and was able to save up a bit of cash. I was looking for a good investment for some of that money. Searching the Internet for free websites for foreclosed homes in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-18672" style="border: white 10px solid;" title="house" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/house.jpg" alt="house" title="house" width="225" /> About 15 years ago, I became interested in real estate investment. It was just after I&#8217;d started my first job in Connecticut and was able to save up a bit of cash. I was looking for a good investment for some of that money. Searching the Internet for free websites for foreclosed homes in the United States, using the form that the Internet existed in 15 years ago, resulted in nothing more than a long list of real estate investment scams or websites looking for membership dues. Very little on the Internet was free back then.</p>
<p><strong>Discovering Free Websites for Foreclosed Homes</strong></p>
<p>Back then, I gave up my search and instead chose to put my money into a retirement fund. Sure, I probably could have gone to the courthouse and dug up the property addresses of homeowners who were served with a legal notice of foreclosure, but my normal job didn&#8217;t allow for the time it would take to do that.</p>
<p>Fifteen years later, the Internet has transformed into an entire playground of free services and information sources related to real estate. Yes, there are still countless websites that are looking to charge monthly membership fees for &quot;detailed information&quot; on properties, but considering the fact that all of that information is freely available via public records, there&#8217;s no reason you should ever pay for it. Thankfully, there are now a number of excellent free websites for foreclosed homes. MakeUseOf has touched on a few websites where you can find homes for sale, such as Jerry&#8217;s list of <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-34-and-5/" target="_blank">the 5 most significant online property search engines</a>, or Adam&#8217;s <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/20-real-estate-search-and-information-tools/" target="_blank">list of 20 real estate search and information tools</a>.  However, if you&#8217;re looking to invest in foreclosures, the websites below are the first places to check out.<br />
<span id="more-18674"></span><br />
<strong>The Department of Housing and Urban Development</strong></p>
<p>If there&#8217;s only one place you go for information on properties for sale that are either in foreclosure, bank owned or government owned, that place should be the <a href="http://www.hud.gov/homes/homesforsale.cfm" target="_blank">U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development</a> (HUD). By far, it&#8217;s the most comprehensive (and absolutely free) source of listings for all properties for sale from government agencies such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>HUD</li>
<li>Department of Veterans Affairs</li>
<li>The IRS</li>
<li>U.S. Marshals Service</li>
<li>Fannie Mae</li>
<li>Freddie Mac</li>
<li>Department of Agriculture</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18673" style="border: black 1px solid;" title="hud1" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/hud1.png" alt="hud1" title="hud1" width="550" height="378" /></p>
<p>The cool thing about properties offered at this website is that they include both single family and multifamily homes, which is great if you&#8217;re looking for a nice rental property to buy at a low price. Don&#8217;t forget to check out special deals through HUD, like a 50 percent discount off HUD homes for teachers and community emergency personnel, or $1 homes for local community non-profit organizations that want to fix up properties for low or moderate income residents. This site is overflowing with information on where to find foreclosed homes.</p>
<p><strong>Free Foreclosure Database</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.freeforeclosuredatabase.com" target="_blank">FreeForeclosureDatabase</a> is one of the first websites that offers a truly &quot;free&quot; search for foreclosed homes, without requiring you to sign up for any sort of trial membership. From the main page, all you have to do is search for your city and state, price range and property type (or just click on the map of the U.S.).</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18675" style="border: black 1px solid;" title="foreclosuredatabase2" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/foreclosuredatabase2.png" alt="foreclosuredatabase2" title="foreclosuredatabase2" width="550" height="353" /></p>
<p>When you click on the &quot;detailed listing,&quot; unlike other sites that make you provide your email address or sign up for a &quot;trial membership,&quot; this website truly offers <em>free</em> information about the property.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18676" style="border: black 1px solid;" title="foreclosuredatabase3" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/foreclosuredatabase3.png" alt="foreclosuredatabase3" title="foreclosuredatabase3" width="550" height="387" /></p>
<p>You can view the street address and the agent&#8217;s name and number to contact for more information about purchasing the foreclosed property. This is one of the few websites where you get access to contact information for absolutely free &#8211; making this site one of the best out there.</p>
<p><strong>WatchForeclosure Won&#8217;t Try Selling a &quot;Trial Membership&quot;</strong></p>
<p>Another great website that offers foreclosure listings that are <em>truly</em> free is <a href="http://www.watchforeclosure.com/property/index.html" target="_blank">WatchForeclosure</a>. This website offers a very simple free foreclosure search where you click on any state on a map of the U.S.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18677" style="border: black 1px solid;" title="watchforeclosure" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/watchforeclosure.png" alt="watchforeclosure" title="watchforeclosure" width="550" height="352" /></p>
<p>For Maine alone, the search returned 223 properties throughout the entire state. Most listings are very current, and when you click on the property link you typically get a great picture, property details and the contact information for an agent to contact.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18678" style="border: black 1px solid;" title="watchforeclosure2" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/watchforeclosure2.png" alt="watchforeclosure2" title="watchforeclosure2" width="498" height="382" /></p>
<p>You&#8217;ll notice that you get access to property detail <em>and</em> contact information for absolutely free &#8211; no email required and no trial membership that traps you into a long-term commitment.</p>
<p><strong>REO Source for Bank Owned Properties</strong></p>
<p>Another great website for finding foreclosed properties is <a href="http://www.reosource.com/" target="_blank">REOSource</a>. REO stands for &quot;Real Estate Owned,&quot; and it means properties that are now owned by the bank. Some of these may be going through foreclosure, but many didn&#8217;t sell at auction and are simply being held by the bank until they can find a seller. You could sift through the lists of national banks one at a time, or you can use the REOSource search engine.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18679" style="border: black 1px solid;" title="resource1" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/resource1.png" alt="resource1" title="resource1" width="540" height="388" /></p>
<p>This search engine turned up only thirteen properties for Maine, but each listing was fairly current and had complete contact details for the agent in charge of the property.</p>
<p><strong>Foreclosure Searches &#8211; Try the Do it Yourself Approach</strong></p>
<p>The best way to find the most comprehensive listings is to go through individual national bank websites and search their REO listings for your state. You can find a fairly good list of bank REO websites at <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/wiki/REO_Database_List.asp" target="_blank">Mortgage News Daily</a>, or you can use the public records section of <a href="http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/Foreclosures-and-Tax-Lien-Sales.htm" target="_blank">OnlineSearches</a> to search through foreclosure and tax lien sale records offered for free from your state government.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18680" style="border: black 1px solid;" title="publicrecords" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/publicrecords.png" alt="publicrecords" title="publicrecords" width="550" height="351" /></p>
<p>Just click on your state to search any free public records for any properties in your area that have a tax lien on it. In most cases, you&#8217;ll find those properties are already in foreclosure, or at least pre-foreclosure.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, <strong>never sign up for the trial offers</strong> that major real estate companies put up as an obstacle to find foreclosed homes. It&#8217;s in the best interest of <em>retail</em> real estate to keep these low-cost foreclosed properties difficult to access, because <em>cheap homes</em> bring down overall real estate prices. What they don&#8217;t want you to know is that through the type of resources listed in this article, you <em>can</em> find all of those same properties, with just a little bit of extra work, for absolutely free.</p>
<p>Have you ever purchased a foreclosed home? Did you use any online tools to find it? Share your own experiences in the comments section below.
<p>Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!</p>
<p><em><strong>New on Twitter ?</strong> Now you can follow <a href="http://twitter.com/MakeUseOf">MakeUseOf on Twitter</a> too.</em></p>

	<em><h4>Related posts</h4></em>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/use-household-register-2010-to-maintain-a-home-inventory/" title="Use Household Register 2010 To Maintain A Home Inventory (October 28, 2009)">Use Household Register 2010 To Maintain A Home Inventory</a> (6)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/protect-and-insure-your-home-assets-with-these-two-tools/" title="Two Home Inventory Tracking Apps to Insure Your Assets (February 25, 2009)">Two Home Inventory Tracking Apps to Insure Your Assets</a> (11)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-us-apartment-search-websites/" title="Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines (February 18, 2009)">Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines</a> (10)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-2/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2 (July 24, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2</a> (4)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-1/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1 (July 15, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1</a> (16)</li>
</ul>

]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-best-free-websites-to-find-foreclosed-houses/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines</title>
		<link>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-us-apartment-search-websites/</link>
		<comments>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-us-apartment-search-websites/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:01:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan Dube</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lists of tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[property]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rent]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=12261</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Whenever I&#8217;m forced to look into moving to another town or city anywhere throughout the United States, I&#8217;ve always dreaded the apartment hunting process. Sifting through countless old rental ads in the weekly newspaper is the very last thing I want to do on a Sunday afternoon.
Even worse; making phonecalls, setting up viewings, and dealing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img style="margin-right:20px" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/loading.jpg" border="0" alt="top apartment seacrh engines" vspace="10" width="225" height="300" align="left" />Whenever I&#8217;m forced to look into moving to another town or city anywhere throughout the United States, I&#8217;ve always dreaded the apartment hunting process. Sifting through countless old rental ads in the weekly newspaper is the very last thing I want to do on a Sunday afternoon.</p>
<p>Even worse; making phonecalls, setting up viewings, and dealing with the variety of potential landlords &#8211; an assortment of snakes and sleazebags most of the time.</p>
<p>Luckily, the magic of the Internet now simplifies the process of hunting for an apartment. The following top 5 apartment seacrh engines are sure to make your next move significantly easier than your last.</p>
<h3><strong>Rating the Top 5 Apartment Search Sites</strong></h3>
<p>How do you determine which apartment search sites are the top five? For me, it comes down to to three things &#8211; simplicity, features, and results. The site needs to be simple enough so that I can get in and out and do what I need to do without requiring a training course on how to navigate the website.</p>
<p>The website should also provide all of the features that an apartment hunter demands, such as the ability to visually tour apartments or filter search criteria. Most importantly, the site should return the largest number of results as possible.</p>
<p>The following websites meet those basic requirements, and some of them have a few nice bonus features as well.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.realestaterama.com/2009/01/13/top-ten-most-popular-apartment-search-websites-in-fourth-quarter-2008-ID04625.html" target="_blank">RealEstateRama,</a> the following were the top ten apartment hunting search engines based on the number of times visitors &#8220;checked availability&#8221; of an apartment on the website.</p>
<ol>
<li><a href="http://www.rent.com" target="_blank">Rent.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.4walls.net" target="_blank">4walls.net</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.forrent.com" target="_blank">ForRent.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.apartmentguide.com" target="_blank">ApartmentGuide.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.apartments.com" target="_blank">Apartments.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.apartmentshowcase.com" target="_blank">ApartmentShowcase.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.apartmenthomeliving.com" target="_blank">ApartmentHomeLiving.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.move.com" target="_blank">Move.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.mynewplace.com" target="_blank">MyNewPlace.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.apartmentsearch.com" target="_blank">ApartmentSearch.com</a></li>
</ol>
<p>Popularity is one thing, but as MakeUseOf readers know, features and quality are often far more important than popularity.  With this in mind, I tested all ten websites, and have rated the top five apartment search websites based on design, features and ease of use.</p>
<h2>#5 &#8211; <a href="http://www.move.com"><strong>Move.com</strong></a></h2>
<p>Starting off the countdown at number five, Move.com makes the cut with a clean and efficient design.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rental11.jpg" alt="" width="577" height="342" /></p>
<p>Move.com lets you search by price range as well as beds and baths, but in addition you can also search by property type as well as amenities and pet requirements. There are article listings under home finance, moving, and home &amp; garden categories.</p>
<p>However, the overall focus of the website seems to be geared toward motivating people away from renting and into becoming a first time home buyer.  Two identical sections to the rental search are parallel searches for New Homes and Existing Homes.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rental2.jpg" alt="" width="577" height="358" /></p>
<p>The search results included 5 detailed photo listings coming up for Portland, Maine, and all listings including estimated rent prices.  The search here is focused on the specific town that you&#8217;re looking for, but you can heavily refine that search with the terms listed in the left menu bar.</p>
<h2>#4 &#8211; <strong><a href="http://www.apartmentguide.com">ApartmentGuide.com</a></strong></h2>
<p>ApartmentGuide is a very simple, stripped down apartment search where you search by price, beds and baths, property name, or location.  The results come up in a clear photo format with a cool interactive map showing where each property is located.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rental3.jpg" alt="" width="535" height="476" /></p>
<p>While this site returned fewer results for Portland, Maine (3 vs. 5) than Move.com did, it is still ranked higher due to the fact that the site is devoted to only apartments, and because this website is one of the few apartment search sites that provides a truly interactive map where you can access the listings by clicking an icon within the map.</p>
<p>The site also performs an &#8220;intelligent&#8221; search for rentals within communities that surround the city you searched.</p>
<p>My favorite feature of the site, however, is the stylish slideshow that&#8217;s offered for every property.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rental4.jpg" alt="" width="576" height="408" /></p>
<p>This feature alone is a valuable way to get a nice tour of a property well before you take the trip to check it out in person.</p>
<h2>#3 &#8211; <strong><a href="http://www.apartmenthomeliving.com">ApartmentHomeLiving.com</a></strong></h2>
<p>ApartmentHomeLiving is the sort of website that you&#8217;ll want to visit even if you&#8217;re <em>not</em> looking for an apartment.  The feel of the sight is light and airy, and the motto says it all, &#8220;Live for hot chocolate.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rental5.jpg" alt="" width="577" height="389" /></p>
<p>The search results are nice photo listings pulled from the Apartments.com database, but they aren&#8217;t anything to call home about.  What makes this apartment search site stand out is obviously the content.  There are loads of great features and &#8220;answers&#8221; about everything to do with moving and apartment living.</p>
<p>In essence this site is like a &#8220;souped-up&#8221; version of Apartments.com, with a dash of fun thrown in.  In the search area, you can even find an apartment based on your personality!</p>
<h2>#2 &#8211; <strong><a href="http://www.apartments.com">Apartments.com</a></strong></h2>
<p>Often copied, but still one of the forerunners in the apartment search business, Apartments.com provides greater search features and a better site design than the majority of competitors.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rental6.jpg" alt="" width="576" height="357" /></p>
<p>From the very first page, you&#8217;ve got a large clickable map for easy one-click apartment searching.  Or if you prefer, you can search by typing the location, and also by a whole list of apartment characteristics like type of housing, beds and baths, whether it&#8217;s pet friendly, or the apartment and community amenities.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rental7.jpg" alt="Apartments.com - apartment rental search engine" width="575" height="428" /></p>
<p>The listings are detailed, with the ability to save results to &#8220;favorites,&#8221; clear pricing, and many properties offer a &#8220;360 degree&#8221; tour.  Apartments.com is one of the few websites that lists private rental properties as well as large managed properties.  In the case of my search for Portland, Maine, the results returned included 8 managed and 2 private rentals.</p>
<p>The site also offers valuable content for renters including sections titled moving center, apartment living, manager center, and landlord resources.</p>
<h2>#1 &#8211; <strong><a href="http://www.rent.com">Rent.com</a></strong></h2>
<p>Rent.com is, by far, the king of the apartment search domain. The site is clearly professionally designed, with a fast and easy initial page featuring a basic search.  Unfortunately, to use Rent.com you need to enter your email address.  However, I&#8217;ve used Rent.com for over three years and have never had a problem with spam through the site.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rentals8.jpg" alt="rent - top apartment seacrh engine" width="576" height="431" /></p>
<p>The power of Rent.com, and the main reason it remains the king of the hill is its extensive apartment database that includes not only managed apartment buildings, but also condos, townhouses and houses.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that Rent.com returns more results than any other site &#8211; for my test search for the small city of Portland, Maine, it returned 18 listings.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 1px solid black;" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/rentals9.jpg" alt="" width="576" height="408" /></p>
<p>The listings include large, clear photos and photo galleries, lots of specific details about the apartments, and the price range is clearly displayed on every listing. The &#8220;moving center&#8221; section of the website offers renters help with transferring utilities and insurance, dealing with truck rentals and storage, and the millions of other details that renters have to worry about during a move.</p>
<h2><strong>The Bottom Line</strong></h2>
<p>What it ultimately comes down to when you need to decide which site you prefer to use really depends on what you need. If your primary concern is getting the most listings as possible, Rent.com is the first place you should go to. However, if you&#8217;re just interested in reading quality articles about moving, or finding advice about how to deal with the process, many of the other sites on this top 5 list fit the bill quite well.</p>
<p>Have you moved recently? If so, did you use any of the above top apartment seacrh engines to find an apartment? Any other ones? Offer your opinion in the comments section below.
<p>Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!</p>
<p><em><strong>New on Twitter ?</strong> Now you can follow <a href="http://twitter.com/MakeUseOf">MakeUseOf on Twitter</a> too.</em></p>

	<em><h4>Related posts</h4></em>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-34-and-5/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Engines &#8211; Part 3,4, 5 (August 18, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Engines &#8211; Part 3,4, 5</a> (6)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-2/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2 (July 24, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2</a> (4)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-1/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1 (July 15, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1</a> (16)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/syndicate-your-property-for-sale-with-postlets/" title="Syndicate Your Property For Sale With Postlets (July 1, 2008)">Syndicate Your Property For Sale With Postlets</a> (7)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/padmapper-helps-you-to-find-apartments-for-rent-on-craigslist/" title="PadMapper Helps You to Find Apartments for Rent on CraigsList (August 21, 2009)">PadMapper Helps You to Find Apartments for Rent on CraigsList</a> (5)</li>
</ul>

]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-us-apartment-search-websites/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Engines &#8211; Part 3,4, 5</title>
		<link>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-34-and-5/</link>
		<comments>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-34-and-5/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:31:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jerry Kidd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[property]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search engine]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=4440</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the previous installments we discovered the two major real estate search engines, Realtor.com and Craigslist.  Today we’ll take a quick look at Yahoo Real Estate and then spin by Zillow and Trulia to wrap up the series.
Yahoo Real Estate puts a different spin on things.  Remember that Realtor.com is Realtor® controlled and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/dollhouse1.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="left" />In the previous installments we discovered the two major real estate search engines, <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-1/">Realtor.com</a> and <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-2/">Craigslist</a>.  Today we’ll take a quick look at Yahoo Real Estate and then spin by Zillow and Trulia to wrap up the series.</p>
<p>Yahoo Real Estate puts a different spin on things.  Remember that Realtor.com is Realtor<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">® </span></span>controlled and Craigslist is totally uncontrolled, except by the community and system moderators.  Yahoo on the other hand, has entered into agreements with real estate brokers to display listings as well as into agreements with local MLS&#8217;s to display their listings.  So you end up with a pretty good representation of what is available from real estate professionals.</p>
<p>Yahoo also shows you what’s for rent and what homes are in foreclosure, which is a nice feature (although you generally have to register with a third party to see the property details on the foreclosures)</p>
<p>Here is the home page of Yahoo Real Estate:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4726 aligncenter" title="yahoorealestatemain" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/yahoorealestatemain.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>To illustrate how to use the site, we’ll take a trip to Beverly Hills, California 90210 to see if we can find any homes in foreclosure at a bargain price:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4727 aligncenter" title="yahoorealestatemain2" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/yahoorealestatemain2.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>As you can see we found two for under a million dollars!  Let’s select the top one and see what we can learn about the property.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4728 aligncenter" title="yahoorealestatemain3" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/yahoorealestatemain3.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>Hmmm…we get some detail, but not much.  If we want more we have to register with a third party. Notice the parts highlighted in green?</p>
<p>If we click on the &#8216;Neighborhood&#8217; button on the left side we will get some info about the weather, the neighborhood, schools and more.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4729 aligncenter" title="yahoorealestatemain4" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/yahoorealestatemain4.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>As you can see, we can find homes to buy using the free tools at Realtor.com, Craigslist and Yahoo Real Estate, but none of these sites really helps with analyzing whether a particular home is a good buy.  This is where our next site comes into play.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.trulia.com/">Trulia</a> is one of those new sites in the real estate space that fills a definite niche.  They do so by providing a number of different analytical tools as well as enlisting the real estate professional to answer questions.  This works a lot like <a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/">Yahoo Questions</a> in that you can ask real estate questions and get answers from a professional that you can use along with Trulia’s analytics.</p>
<p>Here is the Trulia home page that I have started at Beverly Hills 90210:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4730 aligncenter" title="truliafrontpagemain" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/truliafrontpagemain.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>Right away you&#8217;ll get some stats and the ability to ask questions.  But let’s follow the property we found at Yahoo and see what we can learn at Trulia.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-medium wp-image-4732 aligncenter" title="trulia1" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/trulia1.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>Plus you have the comparisons with Yahoo Answers :</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4733 aligncenter" title="trulia3" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/trulia3.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>You will still have to register with a third party to get the details of the home such as its address, but Trulia starts to give more details on pricing as you can see from the graph.  For even more analytics, just click on the “More Charts and Data” button :</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4734 aligncenter" title="trulia4" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/trulia4.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>That gives us a pretty good idea of what the values are and what the area is like, but there is one more place to check to be sure that we have a handle on the values before we call our agent to start the purchase ball rolling, and that would be <a href="http://www.zillow.com">Zillow</a>.</p>
<p>Zillow uses public information from tax rolls as well as input from homeowners and real estate professionals to produce what they call a “zestimate” or their opinion of the property&#8217;s value.  In many cases they are dead wrong, but in many other cases they are surprisingly accurate.  Which you will experience is hard to say, but if they are significantly off of what you see on Trulia, then Zillow may be wrong.  They are very accurate with tract homes that are similar to each other, but have the most difficulty with custom homes.  That should not be held against them as even real estate professionals and appraisers find it hard to determine accurate values on custom homes.</p>
<p>Here is what you find at Zillow:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4736 aligncenter" title="zillow1" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/zillow1.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>If you search for our Elderidge Drive example you get this:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-full wp-image-4740 aligncenter" title="zillow2" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/zillow2.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>Taking our 90210 example, you can see that they show every parcel on Elderidge Drive with a price. This is the “zestimate” that I mentioned.  Since I don’t have the address of the Elderidge Drive house, (I didn’t want to register with RealtyTrac), I can’t be sure which parcel is the right one.  But judging from the prices on that street, my guess is that this would be a good home to investigate.  The homes are priced significantly higher that what is being asked by the bank to pay off the existing loan.</p>
<p>So, by using the free tools that are available, I can search for homes for sale, for rent and in foreclosure.  I can compare neighborhoods, schools, amenities and I can see whether something is a good buy or not.  All of this before I have to ever speak to a human being!</p>
<p>If you are even thinking about jumping into the US real estate market to take advantage of the incredible deals that are available, you’ll want to use the tools that we have talked about in this series of articles.  You’ll be informed to make the decision that’s right for you and you’ll feel more comfortable with offers that you make.</p>
<p>If you have other free tools that you like, let us know about them in the comments!</p>
<p><em>(By) Jerry Kidd is a California Real Estate Broker, blogger, educator and author of <a href="http://realtytechbytes.com/">Realty Tech Bytes</a></em>
<p>Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!</p>
<p><em><strong>New on Twitter ?</strong> Now you can follow <a href="http://twitter.com/MakeUseOf">MakeUseOf on Twitter</a> too.</em></p>

	<em><h4>Related posts</h4></em>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-us-apartment-search-websites/" title="Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines (February 18, 2009)">Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines</a> (10)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-1/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1 (July 15, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1</a> (16)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-2/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2 (July 24, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2</a> (4)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/20-real-estate-search-and-information-tools/" title="20+ Real Estate Search and Information Tools (October 4, 2007)">20+ Real Estate Search and Information Tools</a> (26)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/syndicate-your-property-for-sale-with-postlets/" title="Syndicate Your Property For Sale With Postlets (July 1, 2008)">Syndicate Your Property For Sale With Postlets</a> (7)</li>
</ul>

]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-34-and-5/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2</title>
		<link>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:55:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jerry Kidd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[classifieds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[property]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=3905</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last time we looked at Realtor.com, this time we will take a hard look at Craigslist.
It’s hard to take some shots at Craigslist without running the risk of getting shot back at by the hardline Craigslist users, of which I am one as well.  CL offers so many people a free way to advertise [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/deathstar_craigslist.gif" border="0" alt="" align="left" />Last time <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-1/">we looked at Realtor.com</a>, this time we will take a hard look at <a href="http://www.craigslist.org">Craigslist</a>.</p>
<p>It’s hard to take some shots at Craigslist without running the risk of getting shot back at by the hardline Craigslist users, of which I am one as well.  CL offers so many people a free way to advertise (or inexpensive depending on what you are advertising) that most of us are willing to overlook its flaws.</p>
<p>And if truth be told, the flaws are not so much with CL as they are with the advertisers.  You see, CL is supposedly policed by the community with the moderators stepping in when enough community members &#8220;flag&#8221; a posting as being inappropriate. The problem with this method when dealing with real estate is that who knows enough about the property to be sure of what they are flagging?  Is it the seller who in many cases may be desperate to attract any &#8220;buyer&#8221; with the hopes of sorting things out later?  Is it the real estate agent who is often ignorant of online advertising guidelines?  Or is it a &#8220;buyer&#8221; who spent time and gasoline to travel to a house that wasn&#8217;t what it was cracked up to be?  Obviously, in these scenarios, there will be spotty enforcement of guidelines and your searching experience will reflect that fact.</p>
<p>Let’s take a look at the process and along the way I’ll give you some tips on how to safely navigate Craigslist real estate listings.<span> </span></p>
<p>Here is the page you come to when you type in the <a href="http://www.craigslist.org">Craigslist URL</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/craigslist-home.jpg" alt="The craigslist home page" /></p>
<p>As you can see, CL is International in scope, and although there are some small regional differences, things work pretty much the same no matter which country or city you pick.  So, pick your region and click on it.  I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so that is where I will start.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/craigslist2nd1.jpg" alt="Starting your search" /></p>
<p>Notice the red circle.  Under the major heading of housing, there are 9 sub headings from apartments to parking and storage.  At the bottom you find real estate for sale.  This is where we are going to look to start our search for the perfect home!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/3.jpg" alt="Honing in on what we want" /></p>
<p>At arrow #1 you can see that it is possible to search the entire SF Bay Area, or search by the various regions within the Bay Area.  It really helps to narrow your search down by using the region that you want to start with.  At arrow number two you can see the considerable sized drop down list.  Why Craig does this is beyond me. I can see just having the real estate categories there, but I guess Craig thinks that the users will change their mind and decide to look for a job while searching for real estate!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/4.jpg" alt="Some more details to see" /></p>
<p>Here I have selected an area of the SF Bay Area known as the east bay (Arrow #1).  Once I did that, the big drop down list (arrow #4) contains a list of the Bay Area cities.  I wanted to look for homes where the seller was motivated (arrow #2) and all I want to spend is $500,000 to $575,000 USD (arrow #3)</p>
<p>This search (without actually selecting a city) found 12 listings. (Arrow #5)</p>
<p>Of those twelve,  7 are in one city, so we’ll concentrate on that city.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/5.jpg" alt="The search results" /></p>
<p>Now this is where we have to start to understand what is going on here.  If you were to click on each of these listings you would find that there are three listings here by two local real estate agents.  They have varying degrees of expertise in displaying the information on the houses.  One uses <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/syndicate-your-property-for-sale-with-postlets/">Postlets</a> (which I have previously written about here on Make Use Of) and the other uses his own template.  Both are pretty effective in conveying the info you would want in order to decide to go see the house. Two of the ads are a &#8216;come on and get you give up your contact info&#8217; to someone who claims to have a list of all the area foreclosures and the rest are being sold by the owners with varying degrees of effectiveness.</p>
<p>Here is one of the owner generated ads:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/6.jpg" alt="A For Sale By Owner Ad" /></p>
<p>Not a lot to go on is there?</p>
<p>Here is a Postlets ad from a real estate agent.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/7.jpg" alt="A postlets ad from an agent" /></p>
<p>As you can see, there is <strong>much more</strong> information available to you.</p>
<p>So, here is the wrap up. Craigslist is a grab bag of things.  There is no consistency as to what you will find.  You will find that some sellers advertise directly, but since most have never done it before, they don’t know enough to put lots of information in the ad.  Even the real estate agents have no consistency in what they offer.  And then there are the scammers who are trying to entice you to give up your contact info so that they can build a list of people to try to sell something to.</p>
<p>None of that sounds very good, so why use CL?  In my opinion you should use CL as part of your search strategy for several reasons.  One of the best reasons is because you can find things that are put on by the sellers themselves. There may be homes that are not on the MLS. In other words, you may find a lot of homes for sale by the owner.</p>
<p>But the most important reason, in my opinion, is the ability to search on words like “motivated” or “desperate” which can lead you to bargains that would be hard to spot otherwise.</p>
<p>You want to start your search on Realtor.com to get the big picture, and then you want to look at Craigslist to get some local information and to perhaps smoke out a bargain.</p>
<p>Next time we will look at Yahoo Real Estate to see how that search giant handles real estate search.</p>
<p><em>(By) Jerry Kidd is a California Real Estate Broker, blogger, educator and author of <a href="http://realtytechbytes.com/">Realty Tech Bytes</a></em>
<p>Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!</p>
<p><em><strong>New on Twitter ?</strong> Now you can follow <a href="http://twitter.com/MakeUseOf">MakeUseOf on Twitter</a> too.</em></p>

	<em><h4>Related posts</h4></em>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-us-apartment-search-websites/" title="Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines (February 18, 2009)">Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines</a> (10)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-1/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1 (July 15, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1</a> (16)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-34-and-5/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Engines &#8211; Part 3,4, 5 (August 18, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Engines &#8211; Part 3,4, 5</a> (6)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/syndicate-your-property-for-sale-with-postlets/" title="Syndicate Your Property For Sale With Postlets (July 1, 2008)">Syndicate Your Property For Sale With Postlets</a> (7)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/20-real-estate-search-and-information-tools/" title="20+ Real Estate Search and Information Tools (October 4, 2007)">20+ Real Estate Search and Information Tools</a> (26)</li>
</ul>

]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1</title>
		<link>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-1/</link>
		<comments>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-1/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:40:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jerry Kidd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[property]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search engine]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=3670</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So say you want to buy a house.  If you read the newspapers or watch TV or even pickup your news online, you can’t help but notice that the US real estate market is in the tank.  There are many good deals to be had, if you could only find them, and then [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/gingerbreadhouse.jpg" border="0" alt="" align="left" />So say you want to buy a house.  If you read the newspapers or watch TV or even pickup your news online, you can’t help but notice that the US real estate market is in the tank.  There are many good deals to be had, if you could only find them, and then be sure that they were really a smart buy.</p>
<p>But where do you start?  The local newspaper?  The homes for sale magazines in the supermarket?  Do you drive around (at $4.55USD a gallon?) and look for signs?</p>
<p>No!  You are a reader of MakeUseOf.com and you have a technology slant on the things that you do, so you want to use online tools to find that house.  This is your lucky day because today I kick off a five part series on what I consider to be the 5 most significant online home search websites currently available in the United States.</p>
<p>I am a real estate broker, licensed in California, and I work in the San Francisco Bay Area, arguably one of the technology hot spots on the globe.  People here EXPECT great tools to be available to them in every area of endeavor, and real estate is no exception.</p>
<p>The trouble is, how do you know which tool does what and which ones do it right?  That’s what I hope to clear up for you with this series.  We’ll start with <a href="http://www.realtor.com/">Realtor.com</a>, the granddaddy of them all.  They claim to have most of the homes for sale listings, and they probably do, given their close association with the National Association of Realtors®.  However, in my not so humble opinion, just having most of the listings does not make them the best choice for everything you need to know.</p>
<p>Let’s take a look:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/rcom1.jpg" alt="Realtor.com Landing page" /></p>
<p>This is the landing page of Realtor.com.  Please notice the red circles, red arrows and numbers because I want to talk about each of those areas.</p>
<p>To start with number 1 and number 2, you can see a place to login.  What a login?  No way.  Not a problem, you don’t have to login, the tools to search are free.  But if you wanted to set up alerts to receive emails when a property similar to what you are searching for turns up, you’ll have to establish an account.  The process isn’t all that hard though.</p>
<p>Next is number 3.  Find Property Values.  This is an Alpha of a new tool that Realtor.com is developing and as an Alpha, it’s not all together yet.  It is worth looking at though because it allows you to search for homes using a map (although none of the three houses for sale on my street show up!).  The really cool feature is that you can view a “heat” map that shows the range of prices across the US much like a weather map shows you temperatures.</p>
<p>This would be useful if you wanted to quickly gauge where you could buy a house for say $150,000.  (not too many places).</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/rcom-find-value2.jpg" alt="Heat Map Alpha" /></p>
<p>Next we come to a blatant lie!  Number 4 points to two areas where you are promised an &#8220;immediate&#8221; price quote on your own home if you had one to sell.  The sad truth is that if you click on those links you are asked to give up some contact info, the address of your house and guess what&#8217;s next?  A pop up window from a Realtor® who is local to your area and who has bid the most money for the privilege of having the chance to &#8220;snag&#8221; you as a customer.  The &#8220;immediate&#8221; report is nowhere to be found because the local Realtor® has to generate it.  It&#8217;s not an automated system and it exposes your contact info to the Realtor®.  Don&#8217;t get me wrong, this is not necessarily bad, but at this stage of your search you don’t want to complicate things, so say no thanks to this tool!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/rcom-home-value.jpg" alt="Find the value of your home" /></p>
<p>Number 5 is almost as bad as number 4.  This one is called Market Conditions.  When you go to this page you get to tell it what area you are in and it purportedly takes you to the information on the local market that is provided by a local &#8220;expert&#8221;.  Now, I can only speak for my area, but when I checked to see who the local experts were, I did not recognize any of them as being active in my area.  They are apparently the highest bidders and the info they provide is generally available elsewhere.  I didn&#8217;t see any real insight from any of them. Your mileage may vary, but how would you know?</p>
<p>By now you are probably thinking that there is no value in Realtor.com, but actually I have saved the best for last.  The thing that Realtor.com really shines at is the search.  Given that they have almost all of the available US listings and a lot of the Canadian inventory, this is the logical place to start a search for property.  Here is the advanced search form from number 6:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/search.jpg" alt="Advanced Search Page" /></p>
<p>And here is a sample results page:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/results.jpg" alt="Results of a search" /></p>
<p>I set the search parameters pretty tight to get these two results, basically I set the price range and beds and bath count to just get a few listings.</p>
<p>Notice that these listings have a gold border around the left side and the top.  These are what is known as showcase listings.  The listing agent has paid to have these listings enhanced with additional photos and property tours.  The agent also gets some additional exposure as the next picture will show:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/diane2.jpg" border="0" alt="A listing detail" /></p>
<p>This is where Realtor.com shines.  There are a number of photos, a featured tour of the home, great detail on the home itself and the ability to print a brochure and to also request a showing.  The listing agent is also featured; in this case it is my beautiful wife!</p>
<p>So, even though I started out tearing Realtor.com apart, where it really shines is in the ability to search over 3 million active listings and present the data in a visually appealing format.  This IS where you should start to develop your list of properties that are listed with a Realtor®.</p>
<p>There are better tools available for doing analysis, and we’ll look at them after we look at a few other search engines.  Next time we’ll look at Craigslist!</p>
<p>In the meantime, why don’t you let me know what property search sites you like, and why?</p>
<p><em>(By) Jerry Kidd is a California Real Estate Broker, blogger, educator and author of <a href="http://realtytechbytes.com/">Realty Tech Bytes</a></em>
<p>Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!</p>
<p><em><strong>New on Twitter ?</strong> Now you can follow <a href="http://twitter.com/MakeUseOf">MakeUseOf on Twitter</a> too.</em></p>

	<em><h4>Related posts</h4></em>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-34-and-5/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Engines &#8211; Part 3,4, 5 (August 18, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Engines &#8211; Part 3,4, 5</a> (6)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-us-apartment-search-websites/" title="Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines (February 18, 2009)">Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines</a> (10)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-2/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2 (July 24, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2</a> (4)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/20-real-estate-search-and-information-tools/" title="20+ Real Estate Search and Information Tools (October 4, 2007)">20+ Real Estate Search and Information Tools</a> (26)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/syndicate-your-property-for-sale-with-postlets/" title="Syndicate Your Property For Sale With Postlets (July 1, 2008)">Syndicate Your Property For Sale With Postlets</a> (7)</li>
</ul>

]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-1/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Syndicate Your Property For Sale With Postlets</title>
		<link>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/syndicate-your-property-for-sale-with-postlets/</link>
		<comments>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/syndicate-your-property-for-sale-with-postlets/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:49:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jerry Kidd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[classifieds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[craigslist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[property]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=3230</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are so many websites now where you can search for real estate and each one has their own quirks, foibles, specialties and value to people looking to find a home.  It seems that each week another one pops up.  You can search these sites by geographic area, price, size, room count and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/postletslogomain.gif" border="0" alt="" align="left" />There are so many websites now where you can search for real estate and each one has their own quirks, foibles, specialties and value to people looking to find a home.  It seems that each week another one pops up.  You can search these sites by geographic area, price, size, room count and much more.  You can see pictures, videos, school scores, vital statistics on the homes and contact the real estate agent who has it listed.  You can arrange for showings, get more information and map the home&#8217;s location.</p>
<p>All of this is great, but how does the information get to these web sites?  The sad truth is that for most of the listings, it&#8217;s done by an automatic feed from the local Multiple Listing Service.  That feed often does not contain enough information for a prospective buyer to be able to truly understand what they are viewing.  Of course, the real estate agent can often &#8220;enhance&#8221; the listing with additional pictures and more detailed information, but given the sheer volume of real estate web sites to enhance, the process is so time consuming that it simply does not get done all of the time.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/postletshome.jpg" alt="Postlets Home page" /></p>
<p>Enter a cool web application called <a href="http://www.postlets.com">Postlets</a>.  Postlets is a <strong>FREE</strong> tool that allows a homeowner selling their own home, or a real estate agent with the listing, to create a free account.  Then the user adds information about the property by clicking check boxes and filling in forms to create a very good looking &#8220;advertisement&#8221;.</p>
<p>The free version will also accept up to 6 JPG photos.  There is the ability to &#8220;upgrade&#8221; to the &#8220;Plus&#8221; version which removes the ads that support the free version, add up to 18 photos, video and more for US$5.</p>
<p>Once you have created your Postlet, it is syndicated to over eleven real estate listing search sites including <a href="http://www.zillow.com/">Zillow</a>, <a href="http://www.trulia.com/">Trulia</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/base">Google Base</a> to name a few.  The Postlet has a 60 day life and can be renewed if the listing doesn&#8217;t sell.</p>
<p>Finally, the site also creates the HTML that you will need to accomplish a Craigslist posting and will deliver you directly to the Craigslist website so that you can create an ad on Craigslist by pasting the HTML into the appropriate form.</p>
<p>Postlets are also available for those of you trying to sell a car.</p>
<p>Here is how to get started.  Go to the <a href="http://www.postlets.com/signup.php">signup page</a>, fill in the form and click on <strong>Create Account</strong>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/postlets-signup.jpg" alt="The PostLets Sign-up Page" /></p>
<p>After you have created your account you will be able to start your first Postlet by filling in the first of six screens.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/start.jpg" alt="Start a new postlet" /></p>
<p>The next screen allows you to start filling in information about the property.  You can choose from residential, commercial, vacation properties and rental properties, as property types.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/second.jpg" alt="The second of six screens" /></p>
<p>The third screen allows you to check off boxes to show all of the different property features, a quick and easy process.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/third.jpg" alt="The third step" /></p>
<p>The next screen is where you can upload up to 6 photos for the free version, and up to 18 photos with the &#8220;Plus&#8221; version.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/four.jpg" alt="Picture selection process" /></p>
<p>No web publishing is ever complete until you get a chance to review your work.  You can edit any of the entries that you have made and when you are happy with what you have, you can hit the &#8220;Continue&#8221; button at the bottom of the page to queue up the Postlet for submission to the various websites it serves.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/five.jpg" alt="The review process" /></p>
<p>Here is the fruit of our labors!  This is an ad destined for Craigslist made with Postlets.  The final screen gives you the code to embed in Craigslist (You have to do this yourself for Craigslist due to their terms of service) but the ad is automatically submitted to the sites that you choose.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/finished.jpg" alt="A Craigs List ad made with PostLets" /></p>
<p>The price is right (either free or no more than $5), the service is great, and the seller gets their home exposed professionally on many websites.  If you are a real estate agent or home seller, what&#8217;s not to like?  Plus if you are a home hunter, you will find that ads created by Postlets offer a lot more information to you than is usually available.</p>
<p>What websites and advertising services have you used in the past to sell your property?    Let us know in the comments.</p>
<p><em>(By) Jerry Kidd is a California Real Estate Broker, blogger, educator and author of <a href="http://RealtyTechBytes.com">Realty Tech Bytes</a>.</em>
<p>Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!</p>
<p><em><strong>New on Twitter ?</strong> Now you can follow <a href="http://twitter.com/MakeUseOf">MakeUseOf on Twitter</a> too.</em></p>

	<em><h4>Related posts</h4></em>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-2/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2 (July 24, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 2</a> (4)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-us-apartment-search-websites/" title="Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines (February 18, 2009)">Top 5 U.S. Apartment Search Engines</a> (10)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-1/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1 (July 15, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Websites &#8211; Part 1</a> (16)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-most-significant-online-property-search-websites-part-34-and-5/" title="The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Engines &#8211; Part 3,4, 5 (August 18, 2008)">The 5 Most Significant Online Property Search Engines &#8211; Part 3,4, 5</a> (6)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/simplifying-craigslist-with-the-craigslist-reader/" title="Search Craigslist With The CraigsList Reader (Windows) (February 19, 2009)">Search Craigslist With The CraigsList Reader (Windows)</a> (26)</li>
</ul>

]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/syndicate-your-property-for-sale-with-postlets/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
