A little while ago, I was wondering... why do consumers and potential home buyers call the agent that represents the seller in order to see a home and potentially make an offer on it?

Well there are probably lots of reasons. Here may be a few:

1. They think buying a house is like buying a car: You have to go to each and every car dealership and dirt lot to see all the inventory.

2. They think that the agent with the sign has insider knowledge about the home that other agents can't find out.

3. They think the agent with all the signs in the neighbourhood is the neighbourhood "specialist".

4. Their agent is too busy and they don't want to bother them.

5. They think that by only having one agent involved in the purchase/sale that they can get a better deal on the home.

Let's provide some clarity on these points...

1. Inventory: If a homeowner hires their agent to put up their property for sale and doesn't allow them to share the property's listing with other agents then that is called an exclusive...

[I originally posted this article in early 2014 and it's been reposted often by others (with and without permission). I have reposted it here with updated content to reflect some of the realities in 2016.]

In an increasingly digital world, it's really important to have at least a very basic understanding of how some of the advances in technology affect you as a consumer. This is true even when it comes to looking at purchasing real estate. While searching for homes online makes the hunt for real estate a heck of a lot easier, you will likely find yourself lost in "information overload" and why hiring a real estate agent to help you before you start a serious search is important. Real estate agents have access to oodles of data and can help interpret it by separating the important details from the myriad of other data. At least they should be able to.

When it comes to searching for real estate online, particularly with things like IDX and MLS Reciprocity, what does it all mean for...