Craigslist is popular for almost everything, including real estate, but should you use Craigslist to find your home? There’s nothing wrong with looking at Craigslist. There’s nothing wrong with looking everywhere when it comes to searching for your dream home. By my last count there are over 100 online sites that buyers like to use, but less than one dozen that get most of the eyeballs, and Craigslist is one of those. In this article I will share why using Craigslist is not safe and why it is not the best way to find your ideal home.
Craigslist for Real Estate
Real estate brokers are always asking, “Where is that magic advertising space that will sell my listings?” And home sellers are relying on their brokers to do a good job advertising their properties. Everyone wants to know where the buyers are searching and how to find the qualified buyers. The bottom line is that buyers are using a dozen major sites, and buyers will briefly visit many other online MLS sites, most of them national syndication sites. For local real estate searches, like the Sequim and Port Angeles area, buyers periodically will take a look at Craigslist.
First, the obvious–Craigslist does not have all the Sequim listings. In fact, the real estate posts on Craigslist probably include less than 1/100th of the local listings. This means that the best home or your ideal home at the best price in all probability will never show up on Craigslist.
Second, the less obvious–there are local Sequim MLS sites and Port Angeles MLS sites that do include 100% of the local listings, and it is very easy to search these MLS sites. Using one of these local MLS sites means you will not miss that ideal home, and you will be able to review the entire inventory of homes and land.
Third, let’s dispel a myth that you might find the needle in a haystack by searching Craigslist. If a real estate agent posts a listing on Craigslist, it quickly slides down the list as it gets older, and Craigslist makes it very hard to keep posting the listing without violating complicated Craigslist rules and getting banned. Getting listings regularly exposed on Craigslist becomes a game of cat and mouse for the listing broker.
Craigslist and FSBOs
And if a for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) posts a property, it quickly disappears until it expires in 45 days pages deep where you won’t see it. By the way, FSBO’s have not had much luck selling on Craigslist either, and don’t forget there is also a safety risk in dealing with a stranger who posts on Craigslist. Craigslist has a history of fraudulent users and a host of criminal activity that has hurt many good people. But here’s the bigger point. If a real estate broker is posting a listing on Craigslist, it is already in the local MLS, where all the other local listings can be easily found, too.
There is an alternative to Craigslist for Sequim and Port Angeles real estate listings that is 100% accurate, includes all the listings, is not fraught with fraud and criminal activity, and which is very easy to navigate. That site is found at Sequim Real Estate Listings. Use it and then come back and leave your comment here to let us know what you think. Now you know why using Craigslist might be fun but not very effective when it comes to finding your perfect home.
Last Updated on September 21, 2019 by Chuck Marunde
