I am finding it surprising that the many experts of this forum cannot address my question: which one is the most sopihsticated, user friendly and complete application used today by brokers (made available to customers to see listings)? I am not sure what to assume: is this a "tabu" topic; there are no sophisticated applications; it is not to the brokers' advantage to have a sophisticated application available to customers, brokers are familiar only with the system they currently use (and do not know if any other better systems are available, etc.). If nothing else, maybe someone could shed some light regarding the "quiet"... Providing the capability to do filtering on many criteria doesn't mean that everyone should filter just because the capability is there. However, it provides an option for those who want to do it.

Susie~

I'm with Linda here - buyers usually want to see just about everything on the market. lol... Filtering is good to a point and marketing statistics tell us that over 70% of buyers end up purchasing a home that is outside of their initial parameters.

Can't help but wonder that there's a point where we sometimes over-analyize the process?

Also, please keep in mind that if the listing agent hasn't correctly entered the property into the local MLS system and carefully verified all of the property data and characteristics, it's not going to show up correctly in searches. Unfortunately, most experienced agents will tell you we see homes placed in the wrong area, incorrect school district, wrong square footage, etc.

Best of luck in your search!

Chris Aldridge, Broker
RE/MAX Lake Oswego
503-495-3924

I believe our RMLS uses the IDX system. Portland is a small town and you can live close to work if you want? The specific things that you try and sort out you have to hand pick them in the systems we have. Once you choose an area you can become educated very quicky on price and value unless you look at property 5 miles apart and then it does not make any sense. In the good locations close in areas there might only be $100,000 price difference in 10 homes in a school district so you can see all of those homes pretty quickly. When you go to the suburbs you could have 50 homes in $50,000 swing. Now if you don't like those you can move to another area or school district but inside 82nd the market is good depending on price range and what you are looking for?

Tom Inglesby, Broker
RE/MAX Equity Group inc
503-319-9035

Wow, that sounds like an awesome filtering of data and is something I do for my buyers, but none of the resources I use does all of the filtering you have mentioned.

Unfortunately, my experience with active buyers is they feel like they are missing something if it gets filtered out. Crazy as that sounds, they want to make sure they see and feel every house on the market. Ten years ago buyers would generally select a neighborhood, price, size, etc., then personally look at a couple dozen homes max. Five years ago, they jumped at the first home to come on the market, sometimes without visiting. Today, they look at a hundred homes in different cities with price swings of $100k or more. You would think with all the data filtering they would be able to eliminate some things, like no yard, busy streets, not enough bedrooms on the same level and more.

Sometimes I wonder if there is too much data paralyzing the decision making. At the end of the day, nothing can replace the good old fashioned experience a skilled Realtor brings to the table. If you would like some help buying or selling property, call me today.

Linda Heinrichs, Broker
503-495-5227
http://www.buyersagentinportand.com

Personally I like our MLS system it does quite a decent job and makes mine much easier.