We strive to have the most complete list of lake-related real estate listings possible. This is a huge task when you consider the thousands and thousands of lake nationwide, and the hundreds of different data sources.
Here are the most common reasons a lake home or lot that is for sale may not be shown on LakeHomes.com yet:
- The lake is in a state where Lake Homes Realty is not yet a licensed brokerage. As we grow, we obtain our license in each state. After that we join local Realtor® Associations and Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) as a full brokerage member. This is where we obtain our up-to-date listing data for each of our lake markets shown on LakeHomes.com.
- We are licensed in that state but we are not yet a member of that specific lake market’s associated Multiple Listing Service (MLS) where we obtain our lake real estate listing data. We join additional MLSs every month, so our lists of lakes and real etate listings keeps growing.
- Your property may not be listed in an MLS that we have a membership. There are times when nearby MLSs are used by agents instead of the primary MLS common for that lake market. Some of these MLSs that have very little lake-related listings are not MLSs we have joined yet (but may do so in the future).
- Your agent may not have entered the property in an MLS with permission to display the property on other websites. This can include not only LakeHomes.com, but also other websites such as Zillow and Realtor.com. You can ask your agent if your property is set to share to other websites from their MLS.
- If your property is on a small lake where we have many surrounding or nearby lakes on LakeHomes.com, then it may be a data import issue. Or we may just have messed up and missed it in our data processing. We’d be glad to check if you want to contact us and ask.
- If there are many listings at your lake on LakeHomes.com, there is likely either a data import problem or the property was entered by your agent into the MLS but missing some key data points noting it is a lake-related property. We’d be glad to check your missing property. Just send us an address and, if possible and MLS#, with a note letting us know the issue. You can find our contact info here.
Yes, our licensed real estate agents and brokers live and work in their local markets.
Our business model is focused on using a small number of local, lake-market expert agents.
We have deliberately foregone costly brick-and-mortar offices, and instead spend this money to better market our agent’s listings to buyers across the country using LakeHomes.com.
Each of our agents is focused on service, and will gladly meet you around the lake or at specific properties.
Each lake real estate market is different, not just from off-lake real estate but also from other lake markets. Having a local expert agent brings knowledge of each lake markets quirks, rules, and market trends to our clients.
In a nutshell, we have very few local offices. And this is by design.
In designing our business, we learned that today’s lake real estate buyers and sellers are far more interested in saving time than visiting a real estate office.
And since we are not looking for an army of agents (just the elite agents), we saw no need to spend money on local brick-and-mortar offices when we could instead spend that money marketing homes and land for our clients.
That said, we do have a small handful of local offices where mandated by state real estate commissions. However, even these agents are delighted to meet you at the property you are selling or the property you are considering for purchase.
The properties for sale displayed on LakeHomes.com are properties listed in a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for which Lake Homes Realty is a full, licensed brokerage member.
When your real estate agent enters your property in their respective MLS, that data is shared with other brokerages that are also members of that MLS.
This helps promote and market your home to other agents and the public.
LakeHomes.com’s server look at this data and sort it to find lake-related properties that we then display and help to market to interested and prospective buyers.
LakeHomes.com obtains listing data directly from a number of Multiple Listing Services (MLSs), all of which we are full brokerage members.
If there is an error in the listing details or description, the listing agent of that specific property is responsible for correcting any errors.
Within a few hours to one day, corrections in the MLS should be processed and displayed on LakeHomes.com.
We cannot make changes to the listings of other brokerages, even if you notify us of an error. All brokerages and agents that are members of any given MLS are prohibited from altering information of listings by other agents.
For the most part, no, we do not manage, advertise, or promote rental properties.
That said, in a few lake markets, we do have agents who will occasionally manage long-term rental properties in their local market. Often this is a service for long-time clients or very unusual properties. However, this is very rare and we do not have a public list available of these few agents.
We strive to have the most complete list of lakes and their real estate possible.
This is a huge task when you consider the thousands and thousands of lake nationwide, and the hundreds of different data sources.
Here are the most common reasons a lake may not be shown on LakeHomes.com yet:
- The lake is in a state where Lake Homes Realty is not yet a licensed brokerage. As we grow, we obtain our license in each state. After that we join local Realtor® Associations and Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) as a full brokerage member. This is where we obtain our up-to-date data for our lake markets.
- We are licensed in that state but we are not yet a member of that specific lake market’s associated Multiple Listing Service (MLS) where we obtain our lake real estate data. We join additional MLSs every month, so our lists of lakes keeps growing.
- If a small lake and we have many surrounding or nearby lakes on our website then it may be a data import issue or we may just have messed up and missed it. We’d be glad to check if you want to contact us and ask.
Yes, BUT there are some limitations you will want to understand.
Currently, during your search filter entry, select “Tagged as Waterfront” to narrow the search to properties that have been tagged by the listing agents as waterfront/lakefront.
Here are some limitations in this search:
- Some Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) do NOT track this type of information for agents.
- Some Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) DO track this type of information but do NOT share (export) this information to brokerages or other types of websites.
- Interestingly, the terms “waterfront” and “lakefront” are not as universal as you might think. In some markets, the local convention is to call property lakefront if it is adjacent to property owned by the lake’s operating entity. For example, property that is adjacent to the Army Corp of Engineer shoreline land might be considered “lakefront” even if it does NOT reach the water.
In the markets we serve, we have as much information as any brokerage about waterfront property. We are building new data tools to overcome the limitations noted above.
Other Ways We Can Help You Find Waterfront/Lakefront Homes and Land
In addition to our “Tagged as Waterfront” search feature, there are additional ways we can uniquely help you find the lake property you desire.
If you have a specific lake (or lakes) of interest, our local agents can often provide more specific information. Simply contact one of our expert Lake Homes Realty agents at the lake (or lakes) of interest to you.
In most cases, our agents can provide you exactly the information you seek, through their access to local databases, data in the MLSs that can only be seen by local agents, and their own local knowledge of their lake markets. This is yet another reason we believe in the importance of local lake-expert agents.
The more specific information about what type of home and price range interest you, the better our agents can provide you more specific listing information.
The best way to have your lake property that is for sale to appear on LakeHomes.com is to list this property with a Lake Homes Realty agent.
This is also the only way for a home, lot, and land to appear as a “Featured” property on the website.
Should we not have an agent in your area or you wish to use another agent, if your property is properly listed in a participating Multiple Listing Service it should still appear automatically in our online lists. It is required that the property be appropriately identified in the MLS as lake-related real estate (i.e., lakefront, lake view, lake access, lake community, or similar).
