Pre-approved buyers should be looking now.

Do you get frustrated looking for real estate for sale online? If you're looking in the Americus, Ga., or Ellaville, Ga., area, you can quickly see every listed property on the Multiple Listing Service website: www.americusareamls.com. This is the website of the Americus Board of Realtors. It lists every residential, commercial and land property for sale through the real estate companies in the MLS.

Currently there are between 165 and 170 residential properties listed. There are 70 land properties, and 27 commercial properties. The inventory of unsold properties is the highest it has ever been in the Americus, Sumter County, Ellaville and Schley County area. This means, if you are pre-approved for a mortgage loan, you are in a position to negotiate a good deal on a house, building lot, or large tract of land.

A Realtor can be your best friend when it comes to finding and negotiating the purchase of real estate. Best of all, the Realtor's services are free to you, the buyer. It's the seller who pays the Realtor a commission for finding you, the buyer, and putting a deal together. If you aren't working with a Realtor, you may not hear about properties that you'd be interested in, and you may not get some professional advice that a Realtor can offer.

You can relate to your Realtor in one of two ways. You can be a "customer" or a "client." There's a big difference. If you are interested, you can visit a new website -- www.americusgarealestate.net -- and ask questions. As host of the site, I'll answer your questions. However, anyone may provide not only questions but also answers. They also may post notices of community interest. Create your own password, login, and visit the site as often as you want to.

Your Real Estate Questions Answered -- and More

You now have a special place on the Internet to ask questions about real estate -- real estate in general or the Americus and Ellaville, Ga., area in particular. It is: http://americusgarealestate.net. Read more about this new website for real estate information, and then visit the site.

The website allows you to post your questions, or provide answers to others' questions. The website host, Michael Dixon, will answer questions, but anyone may offer a response. You log in with your user name and password, and then return any time you wish to access the site.

You may tell everyone about your real estate for sale, or tell them what you are looking for. You might make just the right connection.

Post notices of events of interest to the general community. Use this website as a bulletin board.

See you soon.