SEARCH RESOURCES

Follow These Search Tips to Search Like a Pro

The new Property Search System on this site has a lot of horsepower to enable you to search like a pro. But any software tool is only as powerful as your skill in using it. So I've put together some tips to help you target your searches and get the most out of your online home shopping, as well as answers to some of the most common questions about using the system. And if you're not quite sure exactly what an "MLS" is (and maybe think of it as Craigslist-on-steroids) and how you can use it to your advantage, be sure to read my page, "What is an MLS?"

Use "Saved Searches" to be notified of new listings

Set up a free User Account in the search system — either by going to the Account Set Up page or by clicking to "Save" any property you find. Then when you log in to "My Listing Manager" and run a search, there will be an option at the top of the search, "Save Search". Click it and your search will be auotmatically saved. When you save a search, the default option is to send you a daily email with new listings that meet your search criteria (on days when there are new listings that meet those criteria.)

How do I stop email notification of new listings?

Go to My Listing Manager and then to "My Saved Searches." Uncheck the box "Receive Email Updates" on each saved search.

Why aren't some properties I know are on the market show up?

There are a few possible reasons. First, a couple of brokers who are members of the Sullivan County MLS have opted not to have their listings show up on the MLS displays on other brokers' websites like this one. Second, some properties while located in Sullivan County may be listed by a broker in a neighboring county and included in that county's MLS, not Sullivan's. Third, if a property is an "open listing" (listed with multiple brokers"), it will not be included in the MLS. If there is a property you think is on the market, but can't find, drop me an email or give me a call at 845-468-5710 and I'll try to track it down.

Why did a property disappear?

When a listing is no longer "active", it drops out of the online search system. This can happen because a listing has expired and has not yet been renewed, or a property has gone into contract or been sold. If a property is still on the market, but the listing has been relisted with another MLS number, it will not not come up under your "Saved Properties".

Just because you can't pull it up doesn't necessarily mean the property is no longer available. If there is a property you're interested in, and you can't find it, give me a call (845-468-5710.) Note that if you saved the property in "My Listing Manager", even though the listing is no longer viewable, the MLS number will still be there.

Why doesn't a property show up on the map search?

For a property to show up on the map search, Google Maps has to be able to locate the property address. A lot of properties just don't map. For houses that have street numbers, the reason is usually confusion over the street name. In Sullivan County, many roads have two or three different "names" - North Branch - Callicoon Road, the North Branch Road, County Road 121, CR121 or Route 121, to pick just one example. Raw land almost never "maps out" because street numbers are only assigned when a building is constructed, so the address in a listing may be (17.3) CR 121, indicating a lot and block number and not a street address.

Verifying property taxes

It's about 50/50 that the property taxes displayed in the listing are accurate, or at least accurate for your circumstances because of various exemptions in New York. Taxes can be especially off if the listing agent didn't catch that school taxes weren't paid and were rolled into the annual county tax bill. On older listings, agents often fail to update the tax information to reflect the most current assessments or bills.

You can verify property taxes yourself at www.taxlookup.net with the property address. But before you do, please read Where Can I find Property Tax Information on my About Property Tax page so you know how to find accurate tax info. (Or you can always call or email me and I can check it out.)

Don't forget I'm here to help!

The consumer MLS search on this site has a lot of features and you can do a lot with it. The pro vesion of the MLS that I access, though, is more powerful and flexible. I can do a lot more with it. I have many more searchable fields, with the ability to structure complex and/or queries, and search for phrases like "hunting", "state land" or "short sale." If you're looking for only lakefront houses on motorboat lakes, you can't make that exact search here, but I can. If you like, I can also set up specialized searches in the pro MLS to auto-notify you of listings.

In the pro version, I can access the pricing and listing history of a property and generate tax maps. Listings that I send out from the pro version also have more information, like "days on market", that the MLS doesn't allow to be displayed on consumer search sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Broaden or narrow location

On both the basic and advanced search pages, there are 3 location selectors — city, county or zip code. Whichever you use, if you don't make a choice, your search will pull all properties that meet your other criteria. You don't need to select the whole list. If you want to narrow your choice of city, you can make multiple selections by holding down the CTRL key while you make your selections.

City is NOT Township

The "city" in the main selection box is the generally accepted geographic locator for the property (and may or may not be the actual mailing / post office address.) It is NOT the same as "township", which is a clearly defined area, and can include a dozen or more "cities". So if you want to find property in Liberty Township (which can include White Sulphur Springs, Ferndale, Swan Lake and Parksville, as well as the village of Liberty, use the Advanced Search page, don't make a selection in the City Selector box, and choose Liberty Township in the Township Selector box on the Advanced Search page.

While the broader "township" search may pull in properties you don't want, it is more reliable to sweep in the properties you do. For example, if you're looking for a lakefront house on White Lake, the listing agent for the property could have input the city as "White Lake", "Kauneonga Lake" or even "Bethel". A broader search for lakefront homes for sale in Bethel township would pull in all 3.

Searching by address

The Address Search function can pull up listings by full or partial address. The search will look for a match anywhere in the street address for what you enter into the search box. So, for example, entering "Rob" will pull up listings on Robisch Hill Road near Callicoon and Roberts Road near South Fallsburg. You don't need the house number. It will also match anywhere in the address string, so entering "Rock" will pull up houses on both Split Rock Road and Rock Ridge Road. Keep in mind that street names are sometimes misspelled. and some numbered roads can be tricky. For example, 17B can be either "17 B" or "17B", and a search for "17B" will not pick up the former, but a search for "17" will pick up both (along with every property with "17" in its house number.)

Understanding "Style"

No, I don't mean the way you accessorized that little black dress. The house "Style" selector on the Advanced Search page can be tricky. If you're looking for an older charmer, you might think of only selecting "farmhouse", but older charmers can also be coded as "Victorian", "Cottage", "Bungalow" or even "Cape Cod." There's no single category for "vacation chalet" style houses (you know the style - peaked cathedral ceiling living room with a wall of glass). They might be coded "A Frame", "Contemporary" or even "Log Cabin."

What is the difference between "lakefront" and "lake rights"?

Homes listed as "lakefront" are actually on the water (or, in a few cases, they are not on the water but have a small separate deeded lakefront parcel for a dock or lake access.) Houses with "lake rights" are not lakefront, but come with rights to use a community beach or shared lake access. Lake rights to motorboat lakes often, but not always, include boat docking. Note that some lakefront houses will be double coded as also having lake rights.

How do I search for foreclosures?

The MLS does have a field "bank owned" that the listing agent codes "yes" or "no" when they input the property. However, that field is not searchable on the consumer MLS search on this site. I can run a search on that field in the pro version, however. So if you want a list of the bank owned properties listed for sale in the Sullivan MLS, drop me an email.

How can I see the tax map for a property?

Sullivan County does not have tax maps in "GIS format" (a electronic format that permits the overlay of property lines on other maps, and tagging with address and parcel number.) With GIS, the MLS, both consumer and pro, aren't able to display electronic tax maps. I do, however, have access to a system with scanned paper tax maps in .pdf format. So if there's a property you're particularly interested in, I can pull a tax map and email you a .pdf of it. However, please use this offer judiciously, as it's a pretty cumbersome process.

Can I see an aerial view of the property?

The MLS Search system does has an aerial view capability when you click on "Map This Property" in a property detail page. The maps are from Google Maps and are based on higher satellite imaging. For a very cool, and much closer, aerial view, go to Bing Maps, put in the property address and then select the "Bird's Eye" pull down. It's pretty amazing, and most of Sullivan County is well covered.