Think you'll get the jump on other home buyers by checking the Internet for new listings a couple of times a day?

Not likely.

In the Lower Mainland's active real-estate market, it's not unheard-of for choice properties to be snapped up even before they hit Public Real Estate search sites (MLS).

Ian Hunter's www.hunterhomes4u.com new web-based service lets buyers get detailed information on new listings at the same time agents see it -- up to 2-3 days before it shows up on other search sites. For prospective buyers that's an "exponential" advantage.

The service, called Virtual Office Websites or VOW, is free, but buyers have to sign up for it through www.hunterhomes4u.com. VOW basically allows you access to real estate market information that traditionally only realtors have had access to.

Before VOW was introduced in the Lower Mainland in early 2006, buyers were limited to surfing on "mls.ca" or "realtylink.org", the public sites run by the Canadian Real Estate Association and the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

Both those sites post new listings about 48 hours after agents see them & and those times vary in length from one real-estate board to another. Also, the information public sites provide is far more limited than agents receive -- it doesn't list things like room dimensions, for example, or the number of days the home has been on the market.

But buyers who go to www.hunterhomes4u.com home page and sign up on VOW -- which they will find by clicking on the "new members - sign up now" banner -- can get virtually all the information that an agent sees on a new listing, and days before anyone else.

Some buyers are happy to shop for homes on their own and call the Realtor only when they find what they're looking for, and only then would they like representation in their purchase process. Also, the service is particularly useful for people "who are just putting their toe in the water" of the real estate market and are not yet ready to work directly with a Realtor.

I do have the option of registering my clients on my realtor-only MLS website, so that you, a prospective buyer can receive immediate email notification of properties that meet your search criteria, and with the same detailed information agents receive.