Part 4 of the First-Time Homebuyer Guide: The Home Search

Here’s step four of the first-time homebuyer guide: the home search.

If you’ve been following along with my first-time homebuyer series, you’ve learned how to get pre-approved, what your wants and needs are, and what kind of home you’re looking for. In today’s video, we’ll be going over part four of the buying process: the home search.

Searching through the private listing network can allow you to get in early and make an offer before other buyers begin flocking to it.

Most people are used to looking on sites like Zillow, Trulia, and RedFin when they begin searching for a home. Now, though, your Realtor can help you start to narrow things down. Real estate agents have access to the multiple listing service (MLS), which shows all the homes available. This information eventually trickles down to the real estate websites, but the MLS has the most up-to-date information and allows us to focus on key details. For example, we can exclude homes that have high property taxes.

In Illinois, we also have access to the private listing network. With it, Realtors can list “coming soon” homes that will be available in the future, and it’s a great resource to use—especially in a hot market like ours. Searching through the private listing network can allow you to get in early and make an offer before other buyers begin flocking to it.

In the next episode, we’ll be talking about touring the home and setting up showings. If you have any questions or would like more information, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.