There was a time when it wasn't easy to view home listings in Santa Fe on your own. Instead, you'd have to go to an agent, say what you wanted and what your budget was, and hope that the agent would show you something of interest. This made it so that you never knew if you were seeing all of the likely candidates or if you only got to see a highly filtered set. The same was true if you asked about other home listings in New Mexico or elsewhere.

Now, there is no need to go to any unnecessary meetings or be left with doubts about the availability of homes that fit your criteria. Instead, you can see real estate listings on a realtor's site while you sit in the comfort of your home. This can seriously change the way you approach home buying.

With the modern method, you only need to contact an agent after you've decided on one or more homes of interest. This saves you from having to call back over and over again, taking fruitless home tours, or otherwise wasting time. It also lets you see what is really in the listings, so you never have to wonder if you're missing out.

Thanks to the extensive information found with many online MLS home listings in Santa Fe, you can also get a very good idea of what a house is like before you tour it. It is common for there to be several pictures of the interior of each house, as well as at least a front and back exterior shot. If there are any upscale amenities, they will almost surely be mentioned, too. Standard additional info includes local school data, property tax projections, and on many sites, a mortgage payment estimate.

That said, not all home listings in New Mexico have this much information to see. Some agents still just show one or two pictures and say very little about the home. Even so, you'll be able to see that there is one available, so if it's in the exact area you'd like to move to, it can be worth driving by these properties.

Once you decide on which houses you are truly interested in, it's time to call an agent. You can call the one in the listing, but remember that if you do, you'll be talking to the seller's agent. For the best negotiating bang, you should choose a different agent – one that will be working only for you.