Guide to the best Arizona homes and Arizona real estate sites online
with MLS listings
Dozens of web sites let you see metropolitan Phoenix homes for sale
online. Of course, none of the sites has everything we would like
to see, including our own.
Here are our favorite sites that give you free access to the Arizona
real estate industry's MLS (Multiple Listing Service) home listings.
Ranking criteria for Arizona homes and real estate sites with MLS
listings
Registration - I won't even consider a site if it requires registration
just to see homes.
Addresses - If a site doesn't give addresses, it's of little use
to most home searchers.
Integrated mortgage calculator - A nice "reality check"
feature for home buyers.
Neighorhood information - A great feature, especially for out
of state buyers.
School search - Ideal if you want to keep your kids in the same
school.
Save search criteria - Very convenient. After you fine tune your
search (for example, single family homes, 3+ bedrooms, 2+ baths in
85225 priced $150,000 - $170,000) you can save the search criteria
and easily run the same search again next time you visit the web site.
Sites that have e-mail updates require a search be saved first, then
the updates are tied to it.
Save homes - Save the good homes, otherwise you may not be able
to find them again.
Multiple photos - It's nice to see more than one photo of a home.
Maps of homes - Gotta have 'em.
E-mail updates - You get an e-mail whenever a home that meets
your criteria hits the market (MLS). It's a good way to find a great
deal.
Rankings
1. FastArizonaHomes.com
- "Fast Arizona Homes - Homes for Sale".
One of the best online homes sites in Arizona, if I do say so myself.
No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood information
 Search
within a school catchment area
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple
photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available
2. SearchHomes.com - "Search
Homes - Residential Search" from Realty Executives.
A very nice site but distractingly heavy on graphics.
No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage
calculator
Neighborhood
information
Search
within a school catchment area (in "Advanced Search")
Save
search criteria
Save
favorite homes
Multiple
photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available
3. AzHomeHunt.com - "Resale
Home Search" from Don Bates of West USA Realty.
One of the first online homes sites in Arizona and still one of the
best. Biggest fault is no maps of homes.
No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage
calculator
Neighborhood
information
Search
within a school catchment area
Save
search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps
of homes
E-mail
updates of new MLS listings available
A few other sites
Windermere.com
- "Search Maricopa County, Arizona" from Windermere.
Nice site with a lot of good features. The search function is too
basic for some people. The biggest fault, however, is the site shows
very little information on individual homes.
No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood
information
Search
within a school catchment area
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available
LiveIndoors.com
- "MLS Search" from Jacquie Graham of John Hall
& Associates.
A simple but useful design. Use the "Residential Detail Search"
not the barebones default search. Uses the same search program as
AZ Home Hunt, so no maps of homes.
No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage
calculator
Neighborhood
information
Search
within a school catchment area
Save
search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps
of homes
E-mail
updates of new MLS listings available
JohnHall.com
- "Find Your Dream" from John Hall & Associates.
Uses the same search program as Realty Executives "Advanced Search"
except John Hall doesn't show home addresses and doesn't have e-mail
updates of new MLS listings.
No registration required
Home
addresses shown
Mortgage
calculator
Neighborhood
information
Search
within a school catchment area
Save
search criteria
Save
favorite homes
Multiple
photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail
updates of new MLS listings available
AzCentral.com
- "Search MLS (resale homes)" from The Arizona Republic.
No addresses shown. Full of ads.
No registration required
Home
addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood
information
Search
within a school catchment area
Save
search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple
photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail
updates of new MLS listings available
HomeSmartInternational.com
- "Search the MLS" from HomeSmart.
Poor web page design leaves too little screen space for viewing the
search. It's like "reading through a straw."
No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage
calculator
Neighborhood
information
Search
within a school catchment area
Save
search criteria
Save
favorite homes
Multiple
photos of some homes
Maps
of homes
E-mail
updates of new MLS listings available
RussLyon.com - "Phoenix
Metro Area" from Russ Lyon Realty.
The summary search pages show no photos of homes! Individual
home pages have a poor layout which is hard to read.
No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood
information
Search
within a school catchment area
Save
search criteria
Save
favorite homes
Multiple
photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail
updates of new MLS listings available
In addition, many Century 21 franchise and agent sites have nice
online homes capabilities. I haven't included them here because all
of the Century 21 sites I've seen require registration before you
can view the full MLS.
Finally, if you don't want to search for homes yourself, you can
simply ask a realtor to prepare a custom-made report for you, a "listing
report". Most agents are more than happy to do this for you,
if you are planning to buy a home in the not to distant future and
you don't already have an agent.
Most every real estate web site has an online form where you can
request a list of homes for sale, including the sites listed above.
Or, you can simply call the real estate agent and ask for a custom-made
listings report directly.
Enjoy your new home!
John L. Wake
January 1, 2004
HomeSmart
(480) 596-3851
JohnWake@FastArizonaHomes.com
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