How to Search Like a Pro (Part 1): Filter Smarter, Not Harder
With thousands of listings at your fingertips, success isn't about scrolling faster—it's about filtering smarter. This three-part guide turns listing overload into a repeatable system: filter broadly, eliminate fast, and confirm reality on the map—then go tour with confidence.
📚 TL;DR (for the 3-part series)
Goal:
Find the right home faster by filtering smart, eliminating faster, and sanity-checking location with maps + street view (and our Convenience Scanner).
Mindset:
Real-world listings have messy data; keep filters broad, then prune manually.
Method:
Alerts on 1-2 portals → newest-first triage → map/street-view kill shots → only then photos → verify costs (taxes/HOA/insurance).
Tooling:
Draw custom zones, try AI/natural-language search, and always cross-check great candidates on a second portal + your agent's raw MLS pull.
🎯 Set the Stage: Search Is About Elimination, Not Discovery
📋 TL;DR Part 1 — Filters & Pitfalls
- Use few filters (price, beds/baths, area).
- Many fields (sq ft, lot size, garage) are missing in MLS, so over-filtering hides good homes.
- Save named searches + alerts; compare the same listing on multiple portals.
So, here you are—you've decided on a general location for your home and decided on your requirements from "nice-to-haves" to "must-haves." Hopefully, you've also started to get a handle on the "non-negotiable" items or "deal-breakers" that will turbocharge your search effort. Keep in mind that the search itself is every bit as much a process of elimination as it is a quest for the elusive "perfect house."
This article dives into Step 3 of the ConvenientHouse.com 4-step framework — How Do You Find It? — showing you the search techniques to find properties matching the location and requirements from Steps 1—2. We'll focus specifically on leveraging real estate portal apps (whether mobile or web-based) to conduct your search. Yes, I can hear you rolling your eyes (I'm looking at you, Gen Z), but if you think all this is a waste of time because you already know everything there is to know about using a real estate search portal, I'm willing to bet that if you'll stick with me for a bit, I can up your game. I promise to keep it short… so let's get after it.
🌐 Know Your Portals (and Their Quirks)
| Portal | Pros | Cons | Best Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zillow | Wide reach, user-friendly interface | Occasional duplicates, inaccurate Zestimate | Broad scan + alerts |
| Realtor.com | Direct MLS feed, generally freshest data | Fewer FSBOs, ads can clutter experience | "What's truly live now?" |
| Redfin | Integrated brokerage, accurate "Hot Homes" alerts | Smaller footprint outside metros | Metro markets + analytics |
| Homes.com / Trulia | Strong local photo coverage | Often lag data updates | Secondary cross-check |
🔍 A Good Filter is Worth a Thousand Searches
Here's how to set filters without filtering out the perfect home. Note that my comments here apply to any and all of the real estate apps, and let's face it, they're all pretty similar. I'll confess to being a Zillow fan myself, but Lisa's still a die-hard Realtor.com holdout. And although there are a few differences between all the major players (e.g., you can find For Sale By Owner (FSBO) properties on Zillow, not so much on Realtor), the way you'll execute your search won't vary much from app to app. I would, however, recommend taking a look at any property that catches your attention on more than one of the apps, since there are often a few pieces of information about any property that are unique to a specific app.
✅ So here's how we do it:
- Open the search function for a specific location.
- Select the available filters.
- Name and save your search for daily updates.
- Lather, rinse, and repeat until you find your dream home.
⚠️ The Filter Trap: When Data Gaps Hide Great Homes
Simple, huh? Well, as is true with most things in life, the devil is in the details. And while I know you can handle selecting which fields you want to use to filter properties, here's the gotcha you may not be expecting—many listings have incomplete or inconsistent data in MLS. Why do we care? Well, here's the problem, when listing agents fill out their sellers' listing documents and enter the details into the Multiple Listing Service (MLS—the database that feeds all of the real estate portals), they frequently fail to fill in all of the available fields accurately (if at all). And before anyone gets upset about my disparaging real estate agents, I'm really not—I used to be one, after all—and I'm merely stating a fact. Everyone's busy… errors occur… details get left out. And that means the more filters you apply to your search, the more properties that might meet your requirements will be filtered out, simply because the agent didn't enter some piece of data.
📐 The Square Footage Example
Sound confusing? Let me give you one of the most common examples: square footage. Most of us have a pretty good idea of what size house we would like to purchase, right? So one would think that this would be an obvious filter you would want to apply on all of your searches. Unfortunately, square footage is one of THE most common pieces of data that listing agents leave off their MLS listings. I assume that's often because their sellers don't know for sure and the agent fears legal liability for guessing, so they just leave the field blank. So if you've entered ANY square footage filter in your search, that agent's property simply won't appear at all in your search results. Crazy, huh? Keep this in mind when it comes time to sell your home—accurate MLS data helps every buyer find you. Don't depend solely on your agent for this or any other detail. Like everything else where buying and selling real estate is concerned—ultimately, the responsibility falls squarely on your shoulders, not your agent's.
Applying the wrong filters at the wrong time may well lead to missing exactly the property you were looking for.
✅ The Safe Filters (and the Risky Ones)
So how do you get around this problem? Well, you don't… not easily. My general advice is to keep your net as wide as possible in your filters (setting as few as possible), and then check daily for new properties that match your criteria to keep from being completely overwhelmed. Are any of the filters "safe" to use and still avoid missing properties? Not entirely, but some are better than others. Here's a quick list:
| Filter | Safe? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Location (City/Neighborhood) | Yes | Almost always completed; foundational for searches. |
| Price Range | Yes | Typically accurate, though some agents list odd prices to attract attention. |
| Bedrooms | Mostly | Occasionally missing, but widely used by agents and buyers alike. |
| Bathrooms | Mostly | Sometimes omitted, but usually reliable for narrowing options. |
| Square Footage | No | Commonly left blank due to uncertainty or liability concerns. |
| Lot Size | No | Frequently missing or inaccurately entered, especially for condos/townhomes. |
| Year Built | Sometimes | Older homes may lack this; newer listings are more reliable. |
| Home Type (Single Family, Condo, etc.) | Yes | Usually accurate, but double-check if your criteria are strict. |
| Days on Market | Mostly | Based on listing date; occasionally manipulated by relisting. |
| Garage/Parking | No | Inconsistently entered; confirm details in listing description or photos. |
| Max HOA | Mostly | Mostly safe if it includes an option to include homes with no HOA data. |
| Parking Spots | No | Not safe, frequently omitted. |
| Must Have Garage | No | Not safe, frequently omitted. |
| Must Have Basement | No | Not safe, frequently omitted. |
| Amenities/Views/etc. | Iffy | Generally iffy, use sparingly and assume quite a few properties will be inaccurately filtered out. |
| Smart Home/EV/Green Features | Iffy | Often omitted, rarely standardized, so use as broad filters unless essential. |
Use Maps, Not ZIP Codes: Skip the rigid ZIP code lines: try map-based or "polygon" tools to outline your exact zone of interest—even if it straddles neighborhoods. Saving several custom zones can reveal options you'd otherwise miss. And if you haven't already done so, cross-check your shortlist with the Convenience Scanner app, which scores properties on their access to groceries, pharmacies, and more to ensure your convenience aligns with your must-haves.
💬 AI and Natural-Language Search: The Future of Home Hunting
Watch for new AI-powered search features that let you type or speak what you're looking for—like "condo with city view under $400k, walking distance to gyms." These tools eliminate the need to master dozens of filters and can surface hidden gems matching your true intent. I suspect that features like this will be advancing rapidly over the next year or so, and, hopefully, the entire process will get much easier as a result.
🤖 Wouldn't it be great if you could simply include the following in your prompt:
- "Don't filter properties based on square footage if square footage data is not included in the listing."
- "Crawlspaces SUCK and should be against building codes nationwide. Show me ONLY homes with a slab or basement foundation."
- "Show me 3–4 bed homes under $450k inside this polygon with 'new roof' in description."
- "Single-story, no HOA, lot > 0.25 ac, under 30 min to [work address] at 8am"
The goal isn't to find every listing — it's to eliminate the wrong ones faster.
✅ Bottom Line
Filter smarter, not harder. Use fewer filters (price, beds/baths, area) to avoid hiding good homes due to incomplete MLS data. Save named searches with alerts and compare listings across multiple portals to catch what others miss. Remember: the perfect home might be filtered out, not because it doesn't meet your needs, but because some field was left blank.
Now, with your filters dialed in and alerts humming, it's time to put those results through a quick-cut system to separate the contenders from the clutter in Part 2.