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Check out these sites for home buyers, sellers and remodelers.

With the peak home-buying season upon us, you can begin your browsing using ... your browser. The Internet now has a number of home listings, complete with price, amenities and, usually, a photo. But you don't have to be considering a home purchase to find useful sites on the Web. Remodelers and do-it-yourselfers can find excellent information, too.

BUYING AND SELLING. Buyers have two main stops on the Web: Realtor.com, the official site of the National Association of Realtors, and Homeadvisor.com, Microsoft's Web site. If you visit just one, make it Realtor.com. It claims 1.2 million listings--about 95% of the market. Microsoft's site has been gaining listings, but with only about 500,000, it remains well behind the Realtor-sponsored site. Realtor.com's revamped site now rivals Homeadvisor for features and advice. In addition to home searches, there are maps and a "Personal Planner," where you can file away listings that catch your eye. You can also request daily or weekly e-mail updates of new listings that meet your search criteria.

Owners.com is a must-visit if you're trying to sell a home without an agent--or are interested in buying directly from an owner. (Neither Realtor.com nor Homeadvisor.com includes for-sale-by-owner homes.) Sellers may post a brief listing with one picture free. An $89 listing includes a custom sign for your yard. A $139 "premier" listing includes five online pictures, extra signs and other selling aids. The recently revamped site (which used to be known as the Abele Owner's Network) has links to major online mortgage lenders E-Loan, HomeShark, Countrywide and LoanWorks.

PROPERTY VALUES AND TAXES. The main function of HomeShark.com is to point you toward an online mortgage. But you can take advantage of its home-valuation feature to get an approximate sales price for your home--handy to know before you appeal your property taxes, ask the lender to drop your private mortgage insurance or apply for a home-equity loan. For $14.95, HomeShark will display six recent nearby sales, offer you a ballpark estimate of your home's value and compare your home with others in the neighborhood.

Among the thousands of real estate links provided at Virtualrelocation.com are state tax departments. The state tax Web sites vary in quality, but the best ones tell you about property-tax exemptions and deadlines for filing appeals.

MAINTENANCE AND REMODELING.

Which type of caulk should you use for a job? What removes shoe-polish stains? How do you care for a terrazzo floor? You'll find the answers at Doityourself.com. It has at least as much advice as the grizzled sage at the hardware store.

Remodelingresource.com, run by the remodelers' council of the National Association of Home Builders, is a good place to start your homework before turning your home into a construction site. It offers advice on how to ask for estimates and evaluate competing remodelers, suggests points to include in a contract, and provides tips on how to actually live through the job. Links to local chapters can help you search for a remodeler who belongs to the trade group.