The world of Real Estate Search is changing.  Two years ago, I was one of the very first Realtors in Georgia to offer my website users a map-based search engine. 

People flocked to it.  It was cutting edge at the time – and still remains the best way to search for homes online – but it is time to introduce more and better search features.

Therefore, today, I’ve started offering my website users the option of using a new search tool from an Atlanta-based company named Soft Realty. 

Click on the picture above to try a sample search or CLICK HERE to go directly to a search for Alpharetta Real Estate between $300k and $800k.

I need your feedback regarding how you like it – particularly compared to what I already have, which is pretty good,  I think.

The new solution has some advantages for me, namely that it is free, as its revenue model is ad-based.  (The solution is still in beta and no ads are showing yet, but would you mind if they were?  It would be like Zillow or Realtor dot com, that both have ads.)

For you the advantages are more features.  The current beta solution doesn’t have all the features yet, but from what I’ve seen so far, the promise of better usability and fuller features for you, the real estate searching public, is just around the corner.

As a real estate agent, I must use a third-party vendor to provide the home search feature for web clients.  There are only a handful of such providers to choose from and most of them offer solutions that are woefully inadequate.  These vendors are catering to the lowest common denominator, and I don’t want to be the LCD. 

I don’t want you, my client, to have to settle for average when we have so many ideas to make home searching better and easier.  Getting someone to implement them is the hard part; if we were allowed to do it ourselves, believe me we would.

For instance, my existing solution does not allow you to view all homes in a specified school’s attendance zone, if you can believe that.  With Soft Realty, I can do this as basic functionality. 

Basic Searchs for Alpharetta Homes by School Attendance Zone

For example, CLICK HERE to see all homes for sale in the Crabapple Crossing Elementary attendance zone (there are 94 as of today); or CLICK HERE to see all homes for sale in the Alpharetta High School attendance zone (there are 245 as of today).

My hope is that the Soft Realty solution will allow us to implement more of the features we know that you want and differentiate our search solution from the lowest common denominator agents.

For now, there is no registration required to use the solution.  I won’t know who or if you are trying it, so I’ll rely on you to contact me if (1) you like the solution and/or have some feedback; and (2), if you want to see any of the houses in person.

After all, that is the primary purpose of online search:  To find houses to actually go view.  So, when you are ready, please reach out to me – you might consider leaving a comment to this post – and let’s not be the lowest common denominator together.

Happy searching.