If You Don’t Find the Home You’re Looking for, We Have the Tools to Find One That’s Not on the MLS

We now have a tool for searching public records in the same way that we search the MLS, using criteria that even the MLS doesn’t have. Now, if you can’t find a home for sale that meets your needs, we know how to conduct a search of all homes using those same criteria and reach out to the homeowners to see if they would sell to you.

By the way, this tool is only available to agents who are Realtors — that is, members of the local and national Realtor association. Only about half of Colorado’s licensed real estate agents are Realtors.

Here’s how it works. Although not always up-to-date because of homeowners who did not get permits for certain improvements to their homes, the public records do contain extensive information that can be searched using this tool.

We can search not only for style, square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms and lot size, but also for finished or unfinished basements, whether the home is owner occupied or a rental, and other criteria, including:

> Deck

> Swimming Pool

> Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)

> Barn

> Workshop

> Corner lot or cul-de-sac

> Fireplace

> Estimated value

The estimated value is not the assessor’s valuation which is often inaccurate and, at any rate, not current. The assessor’s valuation is as of June 30th of the previous even numbered year (2024). This tool’s valuation is based on recent comparable sales from both the MLS and off-MLS transactions.

Last, but definitely not least, we can search for homes that were purchased over 5, 10, 15 or 20 years ago. Owners who purchased their home less than five years ago are least likely to be interested in selling, so it’s not worth bothering them about selling their home.

By the way, this same tool can also be used instead of the MLS to search MLS listings using those same search criteria above, many of which are not available on MLS searches. Also, we can add any other search criteria that is important to you, not just the ones listed above, using a key word search. These can include anything — sauna, walk-in bathtub, or you-name-it (literally).

Another important criterion for any buyer is location. You can specify any area, city or subdivision — or multiple areas and subdivisions.

So, let’s say, hypothetically, that you give us the following search criteria:

Two-story homes with Littleton addresses (but not in Douglas County) that were purchased over 10 years ago. The home must have 3-4 bedrooms and 2 or more bathrooms, and it must have a 3-car garage, a finished basement and a workshop. You will consider homes with a valuation up to $900,000. The house should be less than 30 years old, and it must be owner-occupied.

Working with those criteria, we use our tool to search the public re cords for all homes matching those criteria. This results in an Excel spreadsheet which includes the address and name of the owner. Using a separate app, we can add to the spreadsheet the landline and cell number of each owner.

Using a mail-merge program, we could send individually printed letters in individually printed envelopes saying that we have a buyer who is looking for a home like theirs. We could also call the owners or give you the list and let you call them after you’ve signed a buyer agency agreement with us. (This would require that the home is not listed by another agent, which we can confirm.)

This tool can also be used to search expired listings without the use of lead generation services which often provide faulty or out-of-date data and don’t verify that the home has not been relisted by another agent.

Although the inventory of homes for sale is much greater than it has been, this tool allows us to open up the whole universe of homes, whether for sale or not, which match your specific desires. If this sounds like something you’d like us to play with on your behalf, call me or any of our broker associates (listed below) and we’ll get to work for you.