Guide to the best Arizona homes and Arizona real estate sites online with MLS listings

Dozens of web sites let you see metropolitan Phoenix homes for sale online. Of course, none of the sites has everything we would like to see, including our own.

Here are our favorite sites that give you free access to the Arizona real estate industry's MLS (Multiple Listing Service) home listings.

Ranking criteria for Arizona homes and real estate sites with MLS listings

Registration - I won't even consider a site if it requires registration just to see homes.
Addresses - If a site doesn't give addresses, it's of little use to most home searchers.
Integrated mortgage calculator - A nice "reality check" feature for home buyers.
Neighorhood information - A great feature, especially for out of state buyers.
School search - Ideal if you want to keep your kids in the same school.
Save search criteria - Very convenient. After you fine tune your search (for example, single family homes, 3+ bedrooms, 2+ baths in 85225 priced $150,000 - $170,000) you can save the search criteria and easily run the same search again next time you visit the web site. Sites that have e-mail updates require a search be saved first, then the updates are tied to it.
Save homes - Save the good homes, otherwise you may not be able to find them again.
Multiple photos - It's nice to see more than one photo of a home.
Maps of homes - Gotta have 'em.
E-mail updates - You get an e-mail whenever a home that meets your criteria hits the market (MLS). It's a good way to find a great deal.

Rankings

1. FastArizonaHomes.com - "Fast Arizona Homes - Homes for Sale".
One of the best online homes sites in Arizona, if I do say so myself.

No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood information
 Search within a school catchment area
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available

2. SearchHomes.com - "Search Homes - Residential Search" from Realty Executives.
A very nice site but distractingly heavy on graphics.

No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood information
 Search within a school catchment area (in "Advanced Search")
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available

3. AzHomeHunt.com - "Resale Home Search" from Don Bates of West USA Realty.
One of the first online homes sites in Arizona and still one of the best. Biggest fault is no maps of homes.

No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood information
 Search within a school catchment area
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available

A few other sites

Windermere.com - "Search Maricopa County, Arizona" from Windermere.
Nice site with a lot of good features. The search function is too basic for some people. The biggest fault, however, is the site shows very little information on individual homes.

No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood information
 Search within a school catchment area
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available

LiveIndoors.com - "MLS Search" from Jacquie Graham of John Hall & Associates.
A simple but useful design. Use the "Residential Detail Search" not the barebones default search. Uses the same search program as AZ Home Hunt, so no maps of homes.

No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood information
 Search within a school catchment area
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available

JohnHall.com - "Find Your Dream" from John Hall & Associates.
Uses the same search program as Realty Executives "Advanced Search" except John Hall doesn't show home addresses and doesn't have e-mail updates of new MLS listings.

No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood information
 Search within a school catchment area
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available

AzCentral.com - "Search MLS (resale homes)" from The Arizona Republic.
  No addresses shown. Full of ads.

No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood information
 Search within a school catchment area
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available

HomeSmartInternational.com - "Search the MLS" from HomeSmart.
Poor web page design leaves too little screen space for viewing the search. It's like "reading through a straw."

No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood information
 Search within a school catchment area
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available

RussLyon.com - "Phoenix Metro Area" from Russ Lyon Realty.
The summary search pages show no photos of homes! Individual home pages have a poor layout which is hard to read.

No registration required
Home addresses shown
Mortgage calculator
Neighborhood information
 Search within a school catchment area
Save search criteria
Save favorite homes
Multiple photos of some homes
Maps of homes
E-mail updates of new MLS listings available

In addition, many Century 21 franchise and agent sites have nice online homes capabilities. I haven't included them here because all of the Century 21 sites I've seen require registration before you can view the full MLS.

Finally, if you don't want to search for homes yourself, you can simply ask a realtor to prepare a custom-made report for you, a "listing report". Most agents are more than happy to do this for you, if you are planning to buy a home in the not to distant future and you don't already have an agent.

Most every real estate web site has an online form where you can request a list of homes for sale, including the sites listed above. Or, you can simply call the real estate agent and ask for a custom-made listings report directly.

Enjoy your new home!

John L. Wake
January 1, 2004
HomeSmart
(480) 596-3851
JohnWake@FastArizonaHomes.com