Here Are More Ways to Find a Home That Fits Your Family’s Lifestyle

By JIM SMITH, Realtor^®

Last week I explained how agents can search many more data fields on the MLS than buyers can search on consumer-facing web sites, such as Zillow or even on  the consumer-facing side of the metro Denver area’s MLS, www.REcolorado.com.

Here are some other features that can be searched by agents but not by homebuyers — another reason that every buyer should seek the assistance of an agent:

>   Do you have an RV and want to park it at your house? Agents can search for “RV Parking.”  To avoid missing listings where RV parking doesn’t exist but could be created, I suggest searching for “No HOA” since it’s only subdivisions with HOAs that typically prohibit the parking of RV’s. 

>   Do you need a particular garage size?  We can search for attached and/or detached garages with 2, 3 or more parking spaces and we can even search on the length of the garage in case you have a long-bed, crew cab or other pick-up which doesn’t fit in a standard garage. For example, there are currently 26 active listings with attached garages that are 23 feet deep.

>   Whether you prefer central air conditioning or evaporative cooling, we can search for either of those features.

>   Do you not like having neighbors across your back fence?  With MLS access, agents can search for homes that back to open space, greenbelts or a park.

>   We can search for negatives, too. For example, we can search for homes that don’t have forced air furnaces or don’t have carpeting or don’t have basements, etc.  

>   If you have an electric car, you’ll appreciate that we can search for homes that already have 220-volt outlets in their garage. (There are currently 404 such listings on REcolorado.com.)