Real Estate 101
Well the first thing to do when looking to purchase a home is to get preapproved, if you are going to finance your home purchase. I stated in one of my other hubs, then you should find an agent and find a home. MLS is the main source for listing information on homes for sale. I would like to walk through an MLS listing with you to show you what each section means. First off MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service, which Realtors/Agents use to list and sell properties. Most of the bigger home search engines pull their listing information from MLS, Realtor.com, aol.com, yahoo.com, zillow.com etx, etx. If you look at these listings on these other sites they usually have whats called an MLS ID number on them. This ID number is used by Realtors to locate the property in MLS. Lets walk through a listing
Below is a home for sale at www.gropmanrealestate.com (my firm). Starting at the top we see the MLS number as we already talked about. Next to that it tells you the status, in this case it is active; some could be inactive, expired, underagreement, sold, etx. Under that you have the type of home, single family, condo, multifamily etx. Moving on is pretty self explanatory, address, price, style, rooms, beds, baths, fireplaces, directions, schools, and subdivisions. After that we move on to the remarks, where Realtors can use their catch phrases like "location, location, location" or "diamond in the rough" to try and sell the property.
Property Information is the next section. This section tells you all about the house itself, starting with living area (how big the house is). This section also lets you know how it is heated, and how big the lot size is. Next we move on to some subsections, including rooms and room sizes if available and features. Features is very important, it breaks down all the features of a home, including if it has a basement, how it was built (construction: Frame in example below) and when it was built. Some other important info in this section is the tax information and disclosures (example below states Realtor is related to seller). This disclosure doesn't mean much but sometimes sellers disclose that the septic system has failed, or they have lead paint etx, and can be a very important fact in the decision to buy that home or not. Taxes are shown for a tax year, with assessed value, zoning code, and book and page. The book and page is the book and page where the last deed was recorded at the Registry of Deeds. The zoning code (RES) stands for residential.
The last section in the example below is Market information. This section tells you how long a property has been on the market for, and what the original price was when it was originally listed. This section allows a buyer to see if the seller has dropped the price or not, and try to gauge motivation for selling.
Hope this was helpful check out www.gropmanrealestate.com and www.fantasyfootballreporters.com
Here is the example of what an MLS listing looks like:
MLS # 71120037 - Active
Single Family - Detached 9 Bertino List Price: $169,900 Wareham, MA : Onset 02558
Plymouth County Style: Colonial Color: Total Rooms: 5 Bedrooms: 2 Full/Half/Master Baths: 1/0/ Fireplaces: 0 Grade School: Middle School: High School: Neighborhood/Sub-Division: Directions: Onset ave to Bertino Remarks 2 story home bigger then it looks with 2 beds up and 1 bath down. Close to Onset beaches and to route 495. New furnace in 2004. Call today to setup a showing. Property Information Approx. Living Area: 791 sq. ft. Approx. Acres: 0.16 (7050 sq. ft.) Garage Spaces: 0 -- Living Area Includes: Heat Zones: Forced Air, Oil Parking Spaces: 4 Off-Street Living Area Source: Public Record Cool Zones: None Approx. Street Frontage: Living Area Disclosures: Room Levels, Dimensions and Features Room Level Size Features Features Basement: Yes Partial, Crawl Beach: Yes Bay Beach Ownership: Public Beach - Miles to: 1 to 2 Mile Construction: Frame Exterior: Clapboard, Aluminum Exterior Features: Storage Shed Foundation Size: 0 x 0 Foundation Description: Poured Concrete Lot Description: Paved Drive Road Type: Public Roof Material: Asphalt/Fiberglass Shingles Sewer and Water: City/Town Water, City/Town Sewer Waterfront: No Other Property Info Disclosure Declaration: Yes Disclosures: Seller is related to agent. Home leased through summer 2010. Will be available for November Exclusions: Home Own Assn: No Lead Paint: Unknown UFFI: Warranty Available: Year Built: 1946 Source: Public Record Year Built Description: Actual Year Round: Tax Information Pin #: Assessed: $187,300 Tax: $1536 Tax Year: 2007 Book: 18401 Page: 53 Cert: Zoning Code: res Map: Block: Lot: Market Information Listing Date: 8/24/2010 Listing Market Time: MLS# has been on for 55 day(s) Days on Market: Property has been on the market for a total of 329 day(s) Office Market Time: Office has listed this property for 329 day(s) Expiration Date: Original Price: $169,900 Off Market Date: Sale Date:
Below is a home for sale at www.gropmanrealestate.com (my firm). Starting at the top we see the MLS number as we already talked about. Next to that it tells you the status, in this case it is active; some could be inactive, expired, underagreement, sold, etx. Under that you have the type of home, single family, condo, multifamily etx. Moving on is pretty self explanatory, address, price, style, rooms, beds, baths, fireplaces, directions, schools, and subdivisions. After that we move on to the remarks, where Realtors can use their catch phrases like "location, location, location" or "diamond in the rough" to try and sell the property.
Property Information is the next section. This section tells you all about the house itself, starting with living area (how big the house is). This section also lets you know how it is heated, and how big the lot size is. Next we move on to some subsections, including rooms and room sizes if available and features. Features is very important, it breaks down all the features of a home, including if it has a basement, how it was built (construction: Frame in example below) and when it was built. Some other important info in this section is the tax information and disclosures (example below states Realtor is related to seller). This disclosure doesn't mean much but sometimes sellers disclose that the septic system has failed, or they have lead paint etx, and can be a very important fact in the decision to buy that home or not. Taxes are shown for a tax year, with assessed value, zoning code, and book and page. The book and page is the book and page where the last deed was recorded at the Registry of Deeds. The zoning code (RES) stands for residential.
The last section in the example below is Market information. This section tells you how long a property has been on the market for, and what the original price was when it was originally listed. This section allows a buyer to see if the seller has dropped the price or not, and try to gauge motivation for selling.
Hope this was helpful check out www.gropmanrealestate.com and www.fantasyfootballreporters.com
Here is the example of what an MLS listing looks like:
MLS # 71120037 - Active
Single Family - Detached 9 Bertino List Price: $169,900 Wareham, MA : Onset 02558
Plymouth County Style: Colonial Color: Total Rooms: 5 Bedrooms: 2 Full/Half/Master Baths: 1/0/ Fireplaces: 0 Grade School: Middle School: High School: Neighborhood/Sub-Division: Directions: Onset ave to Bertino Remarks 2 story home bigger then it looks with 2 beds up and 1 bath down. Close to Onset beaches and to route 495. New furnace in 2004. Call today to setup a showing. Property Information Approx. Living Area: 791 sq. ft. Approx. Acres: 0.16 (7050 sq. ft.) Garage Spaces: 0 -- Living Area Includes: Heat Zones: Forced Air, Oil Parking Spaces: 4 Off-Street Living Area Source: Public Record Cool Zones: None Approx. Street Frontage: Living Area Disclosures: Room Levels, Dimensions and Features Room Level Size Features Features Basement: Yes Partial, Crawl Beach: Yes Bay Beach Ownership: Public Beach - Miles to: 1 to 2 Mile Construction: Frame Exterior: Clapboard, Aluminum Exterior Features: Storage Shed Foundation Size: 0 x 0 Foundation Description: Poured Concrete Lot Description: Paved Drive Road Type: Public Roof Material: Asphalt/Fiberglass Shingles Sewer and Water: City/Town Water, City/Town Sewer Waterfront: No Other Property Info Disclosure Declaration: Yes Disclosures: Seller is related to agent. Home leased through summer 2010. Will be available for November Exclusions: Home Own Assn: No Lead Paint: Unknown UFFI: Warranty Available: Year Built: 1946 Source: Public Record Year Built Description: Actual Year Round: Tax Information Pin #: Assessed: $187,300 Tax: $1536 Tax Year: 2007 Book: 18401 Page: 53 Cert: Zoning Code: res Map: Block: Lot: Market Information Listing Date: 8/24/2010 Listing Market Time: MLS# has been on for 55 day(s) Days on Market: Property has been on the market for a total of 329 day(s) Office Market Time: Office has listed this property for 329 day(s) Expiration Date: Original Price: $169,900 Off Market Date: Sale Date:
