When using non-MLS websites to look for homes, please be aware that these sites report information differently than what you would see from an agent provided search directly from the MLS. For example, these sites will list half bathrooms as full bathrooms. So, when you are doing your search and you enter 2 full bathrooms as your criteria, you will actually be seeing homes that may be 1.5 bathrooms.
Another difference to pay attention to is how these sites allow you to search for your desired home size, represented as square footage (SF). For clarification, there are two types of SF that you should be aware of, because it is important to know how much and where the SF is in your home. Above grade SF is the living area above the basement and below grade defines the basement space, finished or unfinished.
When using the 3rd party sites to search for homes, these sites will only allow you to search on total SF. And while showing total square footage as the main indicator of SF is not incorrect, it gives you a false impression of the living space above the basement, which quite frankly is where most of us spend our time. The agent provide MLS search allows your agent to customize your MLS search using what ever SF requirement is most important to you. It may be total SF or it may be above grade. You decide.
When searching for homes, I personally think that searching on the above grade SF will give you a more accurate representation of the living space that you will occupy the most. Consider this example – If you are searching for a home that is 1200 SF and it has three levels, including the basement, the above grade living areas will be drastically different. With regard to the MLS search, you will see the above grade square footage as basically being 600 SF on the main living area and 600 SF the upper level of the home. If you search using a 3rd party site, the 1200 SF criteria will apply to the entire home, including the basement. For the latter example, the home will have 400 SF per level. So as you can see a search that focuses on 1200 total SF actually has less above grade living area than a search focused on 1200 above grade SF.