Don't Waste Your Time When Searching for a Home

We often get calls from buyers asking us to show homes they found on Zillow, Trulia, or Craigslist and they wonder why they didn't see them on the MLS.

We always direct them, as well as the rest of our clients, to use resources such as Realtor.com or our own website Ferndalerealty.com for their home searches since those websites pull directly from the MLS and abide by a strict standard of posting (and removal) requirements. Zillow and Trulia don't have those same requirements.

So if a home goes "pending" as a licensed Realtor we are required to update the MLS almost immediately or face getting a fine. That information is processed through IDX Broker systems and distributed to all members of the MLS that subscribe to the service (most Twin Cities brokers). Zillow and Trulia don't have the same standards. So a buyer could be looking at a home that sold months ago without even knowing it.