Hi there,

You can look for some of these things now. Go to my website, click on "property finder" and start filling in the fields for your search. If you register on the site, you can save your search and you'll get an email every time a property comes on the market that meets your criteria.

Good luck with your home search and let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Cheers,
tiny

DC Pls,

The question is not really one that should be addressed to Trulia, but rather to architects and agents and, possibly, authorities. And, here's why:

1) Although some of your criteria is objective (ceiling height, room size), some of the criteria is subjective; Architectural type. Why? Because it is seldom that a home is a 'pure' type. Most rowhouses in cities, for example may have started as simple styles, but, often over 100+ years, add-ins, additions, changes, etc. can modify a style to make it difficult (read: impossible) to describe. For homes built in 'architecturally devoid" eras, they were often created with multiple elements from multiple styles. Agents are seldom architects, but are often the people who enter this kind of data into the MLS. And, since they can be sued for inaccuracy, they normally leave these fields blank.

2) Even if the information is objective, or can be defined, there's an issue of importance. It's hard to guess what will be important to someone, or to how many. You ask about room size or style. For another person, it might be how much power comes into the home, or the number of electrical outlets in the room; soundproofing, dog friendly, etc. Where/when do you draw the line?

3) And, even if the data field IS part of the MLS, AND it IS accurate, there's another question. WHO maintains this information in WHAT database? The public tax records do not have spaces for this data, and the MLS database expires after the property is off market. Then it would have to be rentered. Before I was a real estate agent (lonnnngggg before), I was a computer geek. The number one database rule was "Garbage in, Garbage out!". Although the MLS database in use, here in the DC area contains a space for "Style', and such things as 'ceiling height', room size, age of building, etc.; the information is NOT part of the legal record for a home, i.e., not part of the public tax record. A database needs to be finite, and to include EVERYTHING could easily become hopelessly large, and expensive. WHO will maintain the database.

Ideally, the public tax record would contain everything the jurisdiction where it is located has on the property, hyper-linked and accessible, at least once it is put on the market. But, this would be a) time consuming; and, b) expensive.

Will all those who want their taxes increased, please raise your hand?

Cordially,
Smith