Do You Use Zillow or Realtor.com to Search for Homes? There’s a New Change Buyers Should Know About

If you’re looking for a home, chances are you have a favorite real estate website. Maybe you check Zillow, Realtor.com, or another home-search site regularly and assume you’re seeing the homes available in your area.

Starting today, that assumption may not always be correct.

Northwest Multiple Listing Service has introduced a new listing status called First Look. It allows a property to be marketed for up to 21 days before it becomes an Active listing. All First Look properties are available to Northwest MLS brokers and their clients, but sellers can choose whether their First Look listing is broadly distributed to the public real estate websites that normally receive listing information.

In other words, a home may be available to buyers through Northwest MLS without appearing in the online search you normally use.

Should buyers start searching more websites?

We don’t think you should have to.

That’s our job.

When we represent a buyer, we monitor Northwest MLS for properties that match what they’re looking for—including First Look listings that may not appear in their normal online searches.

And finding the right property is only the beginning.

We help our buyers evaluate properties, research the facts that matter, determine value, identify potential problems, negotiate effectively, and work through the issues that can arise between an offer and closing.

Technology has changed the way people find homes. Good buyer representation is still about making sure you have the right information and helping you make a good decision with it.

Looking for a home in Blaine, Birch Bay, Semiahmoo or elsewhere in Whatcom County? Let us watch the market for you.

Peace Arch Real Estate
360-820-2630
[email protected]