Real Estate Research in Toronto

Buying a home is probably among the biggest decisions you’ll ever make so you want to make sure you’ve done your homework before pulling the trigger.

In Toronto, a lot of people use MLS.ca, which the online arm of the real estate industry’s multiple listing service. The site has become a lot more user-friendly but there’s still only so much information that you can access. After all, the idea is you’ll get an idea about where and what you want to buy, and then use a real estate agent to actually do the deal.

For people looking for additional information, Realosophy is hoping to fill a void in the market. The Toronto-based company just re-launched its Web site, which offers a variety of services. There a good neighbourhoods tool that lets you get a snapshot of a particular area and some of the amenities (restaurants, grocery stores, schools, shopping, etc.) that uses mapping technology.

Realosophy also offers a home-buyers guide with information on everything from the mortgage basics and choosing a real estate agent to home shopping and making the purchase. And like any good online company these days, Realosophy has a blog.

All in all, Realosophy is a pretty useful tool. What would be really cool is if Zillow.com launched a Canadian service. Among other things Zillow offers value estimates on more than 70 million homes, as well detailed information about specific homes.