In the last two blogs, we’ve covered the real basics of a home search - type and style.  Let’s take a look at a typical MLS (multiple listing service) sheet and define a few more of the items you’ll see.

Generally, you’ll see the nuts and bolts information about a particular home for sale in the top inch or two of the layout - depending on which website you’re on, it may be to the side of the property photo or directly below it.  This will give you the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, acreage if any, year built, size of home, and current listing status.  There are several items to be aware of:

Square footage:  the number you see on the should not include any lower level finished area unless it is a walkout basement or has full egress windows.  Sometimes Realtors will note that there is an additional number of square feet in the lower level, but our MLS guidelines note that below grade square footage should not be included.

Bedrooms in basements:  these aren’t  included either - unless it’s a walkout or has egress windows, so read the descriptions to get full information.

Listing status:  a home will be marked as “Active”, “Pending” or “CTS”.  Active homes are listed and do not have offers.  Pending homes have offers in on them and are awaiting closing.  CTS indicates that we can “continue to show” meaning that there is an offer submitted on the property but not all contingencies have been removed…we’re seeing lots of these lately because of the volume of short sales on the market awaiting approval from the banks.

Most websites advertising Ann Arbor Homes for Sale will also include information on what school district (and often which specific schools) the home is located in, association fees (if applicable), whether the house has well & septic or public water and sewer,  size of the garage, and other general amenities. 

The tax information the website should indicate both a tax amount AND a tax year.   Taxes get confusing sometimes because those taxes change from year to year, when the home is sold, and also there are homestead exemptions that may or may not be in place.  To add to the confusion, some counties pay taxes in arrears and some pay up front, so make sure that you ask your Realtor how the taxes are paid when you find a home of interest.

Next time we’ll take  a peek at more of the lingo that’s used in real estate transactions.  In the interim, if you have any comments, suggestions, or ideas, please let us know!

As always, we here at Prudential Snyder & Company Realtors are here to assist you with any of your Ann Arbor Area home buying, home selling, rental or other Ann Arbor real estate needs.

Call us at 734-747-7500 or 734-747-7700 weekdays, or 734-660-0105 evenings and weekends. We’re also available via email at info@prusnyder.com or online at www.prusnyder.com anytime.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe our Blog RSS feed!