When searching for homes online, are you really seeing everything that’s for sale?

Today the WAV Group, one of the largest real estate consulting firms in the nation, published the results of an independent study that compared listing information on real estate brokerage websites like Windermere.com with those of national real estate portals, such as Zillow and Trulia. The study focused on 11 major markets and found that local real estate brokerage websites have the most complete, accurate, and up-to-date information about homes for sale.

You can read more about the study here. The study’s main findings included:

– Local real estate brokerage sites display 100% of the agent-listed homes for sale compared to about 80% for the national portal sites.

– Local real estate brokerage sites show newly listed homes for sale seven to nine days earlier than national portals.

– Local real estate brokerage sites almost never show a home listing as active that has already sold; about 36% of listings that appear as active on national portals are no longer for sale.

So what does this mean for home buyers and sellers? It means that local real estate brokerage websites like Windermere.com are your best bet for the most complete and accurate information about homes that are for sale. To learn more about the differences between local real estate brokerage websites and national portals, and how it impacts buyers and sellers, please see the WAV Group study.

OB Jacobi is the president of Windermere Real Estate. For more information please visit www.Windermere.com.