Interesting web tools

I was just checking out the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors' revamped website, which makes it less clunky to access property listings handled through the Multiple Listing Service. The organization wanted to make it easier for potential buyers and sellers to get information about listings, and to give them more access to sales data the organization has, such as price trends.

There are two things I really like about this site. One, you don't have to register and log in, and then find yourself subjected to follow up e-mails from a real estate agent. And two, it makes it really easy to check on all the open houses scheduled for a particular town on a particular day.

So, say I wanted to go look at potential vacation condos in the Mid-Cape area this coming weekend, I would just select the towns I was interested in, we'll say Barnstable, and then click on Sunday's date on the calender. Within seconds, you get a list of the open houses scheduled within the MLS system. It was a pretty smooth search. From there, you can click on further details about the property and get directions to the property.

The listing information is pretty good and includes photos, but the properties that I checked didn't include the date the property was placed on the market. That's a detail that I am always interested in.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting tool and thought I'd point it out. What websites have you come across that are helpful for real estate buyers and sellers? What do you like and dislike about the sites?

And one final note. On Monday, a new blogger, Scott Van Voorhis, will be taking over the morning real estate post. You may recognize his name, Scott is a former Boston Herald business reporter and we're glad to have him writing for the blog now! Anyway, I'm really looking forward to reading his posts and I hope you enjoy them. So good luck to all of you in your real estate endeavors!

Enjoyed this post? Get blog updates delivered to your reader. Click here.