October 27, 2009
Redfin’s database of homes for sale just got more comprehensive and faster in the greater LA area. Before, we got homes for sale directly from CLAW, which serves Los Angeles County, and MRMLS, which serves the Inland Empire and the South Bay. Now, we get those listings even faster from CARETS, (California Real Estate Technology Services), a larger database of Southern California Multiple Listing Services that real estate brokers use to list homes for sale.
Here’s what changed:
- Updated on the hour, every hour: We get updated listings from CLAW every hour. Before, we only could update them once a day.
- More homes for sale: We just added 145 more listings from CLAW and 217 more from MRMLS that we previously couldn’t show. There’s one catch: to see all the details for these homes for sale, MLS rules require that you sign in with a Redfin account or register with a verified email address before we can show you all the information.
- More amenities: Before, we couldn’t tell you whether the home has wood floors, if there’s a fireplace, whether the kitchen’s got marble counters. Now we can show all these details.
We plan on switching over even more Southern California MLS’s in the near future.
Questions about the updates? Just comment below or ask a question in our website forum.
August 28, 2009
We’ve seen a lot of posts in our Inland Empire Real Estate forum from FHA-qualified buyers expressing frustration about losing out to all-cash offers in multiple offer situations.
Our partner agent Tyson Robinson recently posted in our Inland Empire forums about his recent client’s successful offer with an FHA loan. Tyson was even able to get his clients money back for closing costs. Way to go Tyson! Every situation is different and your mileage may vary, but check out Tyson’s tips below for how to put your best foot forward with FHA financing.
Redfin Partner Agent’s Tips for Making a Successful FHA Offer
- Be ready: In addition to knowing what you want and where you’re looking to live, you need to have all your ducks in a row. Make sure your pre-approval, proof of funds, earnest money deposit, and credit score documentation are finalized. Put them all together in case your agent needs them with the offer.
- Be quick: That often means making an offer the very same day the home is listed. The goal is to move first and get get your offer accepted by the listing agent before other buyers have a chance to react.
- Be strong up front: Your goal is to get your first offer accepted. If you want to be quick (see above) there’s no time for counters. So lead with your best offer for that home.
Is anyone else who’s had success with an FHA offer willing to share his/her tips and tricks?
Best of luck to all the FHA buyers out there!
August 17, 2009
We’ve got Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles covered, but figured the Inland Empire deserves a blog all its own. We’ll be posting tons of data on the local market including the largest sale-to-list price discounts by zip-code, monthly neighborhood price reductions, and much more. If you haven’t already, check out our Inland Empire Real Estate Forum to chat with other real estate junkies in the area.
Sign up to receive Inland Empire updates via email or RSS in the upper right hand box on this page. And as always, thanks for using Redfin!
