1. A
2. A
3. A
4. A
5. No
6. 1.
7. B-1,2,5

Note: We searched for land with or without a suitable home. Bought land only and are building our own home.

1.A
2.A
3.A
4. A/B/D I read an article about the neighborhood on a newspaper website then searched the MLS for available houses. There weren't any that seemed to fit the bill, but we stopped by the sales office just in case. Fell in love at first site!
5. No
6.A
7. A

1. A.
2. A.
3. B. We only visited one home, and it was the home we purchased. I didn't see this home on the internet because it was outside of the geographical boundaries I was searching online. I saw it in a free real estate flyer and then went to the internet for more detail -- both to the big local agency site I had been using and to the listing agent's own site. There was a nice virtual tour of the home on the agent's site.

4. B. (see above)

5. No.

6. I wanted to see it based on the two photos in the RE mag. But the agent's website tour got me obsessing on it. The agent/broker had this listing for his sister-in-law. He normally has much higher-end listings, so this $215K home got the $1,000,000 treatment. Quite out of the ordinary.

7. A. YES
B. We were looking for a private wooded setting on an acre+ in a rural or semi-rural area. A view or water would have been optimal, as would an architecturally distinct home. We got the woods, three acres, architecture and a little bit of winter view, but no water. Water was either way too pricy or way too far out. We're a bit far out as it is. That was our only real compromise.

1. Did you FIRST START your home search with an
A. Internet search

2. Of the homes you PREVIEWED, did you RESEARCH the MAJORITY of them
A. On the internet

3. Of the homes you ACTUALLY SAW, did you FIND the MAJORITY
haven't seen any yet, but the ones I want to see I found
A. On the internet

4. N/A

5. If your search was MOSTLY targeted by the internet, did you FIND your house FIRST on the listing agent's site? NO

I stick with a couple agency websites that perform the best, irrespective of the agency my agent is working for. (Of course, since the listing agent provides the information, the photos and such are only as good as the listing agent.)

6. Were you PERSUADED to SEE a house by
1. The general MLS listing
My answer is 1. only because the houses I have been interested in thus far don't have a web presence beyond the MLS

7. Are you searching for/did you buy

A. Residential family home YES
B. Special residential family home (note all that apply)
4. Urban

I hope you realize that this survey's results are no doubt skewed in favor of internet responses because it is being asked on an internet forum.

"I hope you realize that this survey's results are no doubt skewed in favor of internet responses because it is being asked on an internet forum."

Yes, certainly, so a grain of salt. We know or are constantly told that 87% start there. How what they see influences them, where they go from there, and where they end up...? Yes, this is skewed asking here but still helpful.

Those who wish to answer might also add in whether or not they found it difficult to find a home on the main sites due to the fact that one must search a particular town.

Keep the answers coming! Thanks!

If by main sites you mean realtor.com and the like, I don't give them the time of day. They are next to useless. In our area, the MLS is accessible by the general public. We found most of the property we looked at on the MLS.

We found that most Realtor's sites just pulled stuff off of the MLS. A very few had additional information. When we found something in the MLS that was of interest, I would email our buyers agent who would send additional detailed MLS information that was not accessible by the public.

We also looked at the property's tax records on line and used Google Earth and/or a contract GIS system to view satellite photos of the property and/or neighborhood. If we were still interested we had our agent schedule a showing.

1. A, followed by B and E
2. A, plus any additional info buyer's agent could give
3. C
4. Word of mouth
5. no
6. In my area, the same info is available on all of those, so it doesn't matter. I used the one that was easiest to navigate, which was the local MLS database.
7 a-yes b-none of those

Hope that helps

1. Did you FIRST START your home search with an

A. Internet search
2. Of the homes you PREVIEWED, did you RESEARCH the MAJORITY of them

A. On the internet
C. Agent's recommendations
3. Of the homes you ACTUALLY SAW, did you FIND the MAJORITY

A. On the internet
C. Agent's recommendations

4. Of the HOME(S) YOU ACTUALLY CONTRACTED/BOUGHT, did you FIND it

A. On the internet
C. Agent's recommendations

5. If your search was MOSTLY targeted by the internet, did you FIND your house FIRST on the listing agent's site? NO

6. Were you PERSUADED to SEE a house by
3. Another website listing--please note which if you remember realtor.com,

7. Are you searching for/did you buy- Purchased

A. Residential family home YES

A

A

A

A

Yes

2

A, Yes

All internet.
Never even saw it in person until we pulled into the driveway.

My answers don't appear on your survey.

While out driving we stumbled upon a neighbor we had never noticed. Saw some home for sale signs and took the flyers from the RE boxes in the yard. Went home and called the listing agent for details while also checking the internet. Used the internet to find out details about the neighborhood and to calculate driving distances to work. Worked with the agent to look at the house and have it inspected. Made an offer, put down earnest money. So far no news of whether the owner or his bank like my offer - he is near foreclosure.

All the other houses were referrals from friends who noticed a house in their neighborhoods that they thought we would like. Went by and checked them out. Worked with listing agent from info on RE sign in yard. Made offer. Offers rejected as too low.

10 years ago when I moved here it I did all my initial searching online and gave the info to the nearest Real Estate agent I could find.

1 - E (I think) I knew my realtor already.

2 - A - Had my realtor set me up on MLS. I would pick out houses I was interested in and then let me realtor know. I really enjoyed the picking out part and it saved a lot of time for my realtor and I both

3 - A - See above

4 - A - See 2 and 3

5 - No. I never saw my listing agents site. Only the MLS listings.

6 - A - I found the most complete info on MLS. Realtor.com and others like that we're often a bit out of date.

7 - We were looking for and bought a residential home both urban and antique. We wanted to stay in the city near our jobs and public trans. We were also looking for a specific type of older home so we could get money from the city for updates.

1-4: A
5: No
6: 1
7A: Yes
7B:1 and 5 in Los Angeles 1/2 acre is kinda rural.