How to Maximize your Home Search Online

How to Maximize your Home Search Online

March 2024

Almost everybody starts their home search online…but with so many apps and real estate websites to choose from, where do you start? How can you ensure you don’t miss your dream home being listed for sale?

Below, I share my insider tips and strategies to help you effectively search for a home online.

Before We Begin…The Basics

The first and main place for Ontario real estate agents to list homes for sale is on the Multiple Listings Service (MLS). The MLS has two main components. The realtor only version which has seller private information and a client-facing version of the MLS and its called...

Realtor.ca…which everyone knows about.

This is the original home search website in Canada. Owned by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), it’s the official database of homes listed for sale by REALTORS. If it’s listed on the MLS…it will definitely be listed on realtor.ca. It’s been around the longest and here’s how it stacks up from a usability and value for your time.

Pros:

Realtor.ca is Canada-wide, which means it aggregates all listings across all real estate boards

Includes residential listings for sale and rent + commercial properties

Includes essential property details, photos, neighbourhood demographics, interactive maps and amenities, and you can reach out directly to the agent who is representing the seller

The realtor.ca app is great (especially the ‘search near me’ function)

You can save and share listings and set up listing alerts

Lists open house information IF the agent has uploaded it (not everybody does that, so don’t assume the only open houses are those listed on realtor.ca)

Cons:

The desktop version design and navigation is meh, and it feels a little 2010.

Limited information- for example, it doesn’t include property taxes, condo fee inclusions, offer dates, etc.

Doesn’t include sold data and statistics

REALTORS are limited by how many words and photos they can include

Grade = B+

Individual REALTOR and Brokerage Websites

Most agents maintain some kind of website, with many including a home search function. You’ll usually find one of two kinds of listings:

The agent or brokerage’s own listings – With unlimited photo and word capacity, this is the #1 place to search for all the details about a home you’re interested in. Great agents will include floor plans, details about renovations, the neighbourhood, videos and more.

Syndicated listings – Brokerages can opt-in to share their listings with other agent/brokerage/home search sites via an datashare platform. It’s important to know that this datashare usually only displays 70-80% of the total listings, so if you’re using a brokerage home search site as your only means of searching for a home online, you’re probably not seeing all the homes for sale. Individual sites vary greatly in design, the type of information displayed, the functionality of listing alerts and how often the information is updated.

Some brokerage websites (like mine!) include articles, blogs and videos that provide insight and information about buying or selling a home.

Pro Tip: If there’s a home you’re interested in, you should ALWAYS check the listing agent’s website for more information. But you’ll be unnecessarily limiting your options if you primarily use an agent or brokerage portal.

Grade = B-

Home Search Portals

There are many websites that extract listing information from the MLS and display it in a custom way, often with additional data.

Zillow is arguably the best property search website/app in the United States, however it hasn’t become a go-to home search tool in the Canadian market because most of the biggest brokerages refuse to share their listings with them. So, while Zillow has great design and useability, the incomplete listing database reduces the site’s usefulness.

Condos.ca is a real estate brokerage that operates a custom home search portal with tons of data about Toronto condos. While they force you to create an account to see the information, if you’re a data geek, you’ll love the site. Not really useful in the Hamilton/Niagara area.

House Sigma is a custom brokerage portal popular with potential buyers because they share sold price information.

Grade = B

Finding Exclusive Listings Online

Agents and brokerages sometimes list homes for sale exclusively. Exclusive listings, sometimes called pocket listings, are properties marketed exclusively by a real estate agent within their network, offering buyers access to a home before it hits the MLS.

In the past, daily checking agent websites for exclusives was a popular way for eager buyers to search for a home to scoop up a property before it was marketed to the masses. While it wasn’t ever very effective, it was a somewhat popular technique.

Sometimes agents would have an Exclusive listing last for weeks. However, January 1, 2024, new rules were introduced restricting the marketing of exclusive listings to 3 days before they appear on the MLS, making this strategy of finding your dream home even less effective. While some agents continue to promote their access to ‘secret listings’, it’s really just a marketing ploy that uses a buyer’s FOMO as a means for the agent to meet new clients.

Grade = D

Listed App

This app marries the best of all the above. It is tied into the MLS, it shows conditions, sold prices, property history and will send you notification if the status of the property you are interested changes. For example, if it gets sold, or sold with conditions or if its back on the market. Unlike Realtor.ca and other portals or Agent sites. This will also allow you to create your own custom search and it works from Coast to Coast not just here in the GTHA and Niagara area. Just scan the code and you can get started in just a few seconds.

Grade = A

Now…the Downside of Searching for a Home Online

While searching for a home online is convenient and accessible, there are some potential pitfalls to be aware of:

Fist, it’s not unusual for sold properties to still appear as ‘available’ online. Individual and brokerage websites often have to be updated manually, resulting in delays. MLS rules dictate that properties must be updated to the Realtor.ca within two business days, so don’t expect to know the status of a home immediately.

Homes that have been ‘conditionally sold’ are technically still available and will appear in search results on websites like Realtor.ca until conditions (e.g. financing or home inspection) are removed.

What you see is not always what you get. Be on the lookout for virtual staging that distorts the dimensions of a room. It’s also not uncommon to find outdated photos (or worse – no photos!) and incorrect or missing information.

Best way to Search for Home Online…

The best way to search for a home online is to work with a trusted REALTOR who can

Set-up a custom search for you that leverages the back-end MLS information so you will get notified the moment any property matching your criteria hits the market

Your agent will also be able to get you sold prices, custom listing alerts, interactive maps, floor plans and more.

If you are using me you will also get access to the Listed App. This will allow you to create your own search, find sold data, property history and notifications on properties your interested in all on your own terms. You control the search, the location, the notifications, etc….all of it.

Foot Note: Using Social Media to Search for a Home

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok etc can provide you with valuable insights and inspiration and allow you to connect directly with a listing agent. Social media posts often focus on details not typically included on the basic listing and can provide more awareness of the property via in-depth walk-through tours, videos, lifestyle photos and neighbourhood guides. Sometimes it also gives you some inspiration which could tweak what you are searching for.

Not sure who to follow on social media? Start with me, Neil O’Donnell, who else!

Ready to get started searching for a home online? Let’s do this!