Highlands Ranch home listings are sometimes hard to find on-line - Why?

Occasionally I get calls and email inquiries, as to why people can not sometimes find a particular Highlands Ranch real estate listing online. I have even had fellow agents ask me why their customers are having problems with this. Within about 1 second, I can guess what the answer is and 99% of the time I am correct.

The call goes something like this - Steve, I just drove by this beautiful home in Highlands Ranch but when I search on-line for listings in Highlands Ranch, I can’t find it. I even put the street in, it still won’t come up. I really want to know more about this house - what gives?

Basically, it boils down to technology can be unforgiving. The problem stems back to the fact that Highlands Ranch according to the world of many computers and databases is Littleton. When a zip code is punched into many computer systems for Highlands Ranch (80126, 80129, 80130) it feeds back Littleton. Many listing agents either miss this or have someone else enter their own listings and don’t double check. So if 80129 is entered and the pull database says that default is Littleton, that is what is going in that field unless it is manually changed. It may seem to many that this is no big deal - but if someone enters "Highlands Ranch" into the City field - only the available homes that read "Highlands Ranch" come up. If someone leaves it as Littleton, their home listing will be left out of the query.

Again, not a big deal for some since many people around here are aware of this limitation. And agents of course will use the proper codes to search correctly. But, say someone from another state knows they want to buy a house in Highlands Ranch and does some preliminary looking on their own through any of the many sites available - it is reasonable to assume that they do not know to either:

• Only use zip codes and leave city blank
• Search city as both Highlands Ranch and Littleton
• Let their local Highlands Ranch expert agent email all proper & accurate searches for them - They will be able to use the proper codes and get it right for you. They should be able to even set you up for a new listing email alert so you get all the brand new listings as they are available.

To further illustrate the depth of the issue - as of right now - if I were a consumer at home doing my own searching to buy a home in Highlands Ranch - and I was just pulling up listings in city = Highlands Ranch - there are 497 of them. Now, to pull it without that city field limitation but to find out how many homes REALLY are in Highlands Ranch right now, the answer is 519. Now, that actually isn’t too big of a difference - that difference can varry - depending on how many people don’t change it. I have seen it at times with as many as half of the listings entered kept as Littleton when they should be Highlands Ranch. *Just a quick note, there are a few small pockets in the Highlands Ranch zip codes that are not Highlands Ranch - but for the consumers use of searching for homes - it is probably better to get a list with those few extra on it than a list that is missing so many, in today’s example - over half, of the available properties.

So, next time you are searching for that listing on-line in Highlands Ranch and can’t find it, leave the city blank (but enter the zip code) or maybe even enter Littleton.

Chances are you will find it. If you don’t, it is probably Sold. And by the way, my listings are always entered properly. This is important as a potential seller to know, that buyers searching on their own, without their agent, will find your listing. If you have other questions about the nitty gritty details of real estate in in Highlands Ranch or another area in South Metro Denver just let me know, I would love to help. This is the type of local expertise that you need to make sure your agent has to make sure your home is marketed properly and gets sold as quickly as possible.

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