A purchaser looking for a new home, either in person or through an agent, will conduct a real estate search. Before the information was available online, it was not uncommon for a prospective purchaser to contact a real estate agency in the area in which they were seeking to relocate, and ask the realtor to put together a number of listings for their review. Particularly if the purchaser was from out of town, by asking a local realtor suggestions, the realtor could take into account the purchaser's needs and eliminate those listings that did not fit the purchaser's needs, such as houses that were too small for large families, or too far from schools, etc. Other than that you can find real estate in other businesses at the internet. In online games for example. If you take a look at Seafight, you'll see what it is about.

Today, much of the real estate search work is done on the internet. Most real estate agency websites and have the listings exclusive to that agency and will also have links to the multiple listed properties. The search engines will allow a purchaser to filter properties by price, number of rooms, amenities, town or village, school district, and will have all of the same information that the listing agent will have. Internet real estate searches are incredibly convenient, but can be impersonal. Someone unfamiliar with the community may internet search and find the home they believe to be perfect for them, only to find, when they go to view the property, that it is too close to a factory or too far from schools. If factors such as these are important to a purchaser, only a local realtor will have this information at their disposal.