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When Kari Sullivan was looking for a real estate agent, she did what a lot of homeowners appear to be doing: She found one through a social networking site.

She considered using Twitter, the popular social networking and microblogging service that's getting a lot of press these days, but Sullivan, 32 and extremely Internet savvy (she co-owns a business called Blogthings.com with her husband), decided to actively look for an agent on LiveJournal.com, where she had been a member, mostly to trade vegetarian recipes. At the LiveJournal online community for Austin, Texas, she asked the members if there was a real estate agent among them.

And soon, one came a-calling. Er, emailing.

Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. At this point, these names are burned and branded into the consciousness of many Americans -- even those who don't use these social networking hubs. But while another article on the topic may seem redundant, if you think about it, these Web sites feel like made-to-order tools for the real estate market. After all, buying and selling a home has always been about who you know, or who your Realtor knows, and whether you're connected enough to find people who aren't necessarily daunted by the thought of piling all of their belongings in a moving van. And what connects people more these days than a social online network?

In an era where you can easily find a friend of a friend of a friend, or link up with a perfect stranger online to bond over the varying ways to make vegetarian lasagna -- well, Realtors, homeowners and buyers are starting to see the value in a Web site that allows you to network -- and network quickly.

An Instant Real Estate Community

It's not just about finding a Realtor or even asking around to locate a buyer. These social networking sites are being used for just about every purpose imaginable in real estate. Wander through the search engine of Twitter by typing in "real estate," and you'll suddenly see a cross-section of home buying and selling conversations across the country.

In a recent 24-hour stretch, for instance, some of the snatches of dialogue that appeared on Twitter included:

• Someone with the handle, Legreen93, put out there to the 981 people "following" her: "If anyone is looking to get a house in Vegas, there's a really great house in my neighborhood going for a song. Just DM me. (Not a Realtor.)"
• JAS13 wrote "looking for a good Realtor to represent me in short sales."
• Sometimes people, like Kori_Brown, just want to share their news. "Buying a house today!!" And JackThomas wrote at the same time, "Just talked with a Realtor about buying a house. ... Things are rolling and we will be home owners this summer! Hallelujah!"
• Many savvy Realtors are using Twitter as an effective marketing tool. KLDubya wrote her 18 followers, "If you are in Chicago and looking for a condo, I am a Realtor with Sudler Sotheby's. Available $115,000 in Chatham 2br/1 ba." And MichelleBuckman, a Realtor in Washington, D.C., informed her 126 followers, "I have a new listing -- a great fixer upper in Chevy Chase, DC. Some minor repairs are being made. It will be on the market mid-April."
• A woman in Reno, Nevada, with just a few followers, shared with another Twitter friend, "We may be buying a house, but right now, it looks like probably not. I have to call my credit advisors & see if I can apply." Less than an hour later, she informed her friend, "Good news, my credit advisors said I CAN apply, and that my credit score is 200 points up from where it started."
• Another woman named Ruthns13 twittered to her followers: "Selling my house anyone want to buy email me." (Considering she has five people following her, good luck with that.)

And on and on, it goes. The Real Estate Web List Network has their own Twitter group, and online social networking and real estate are intertwining so quickly that, not too surprisingly, Web sites have been set up to help Realtors sell homes using the Internet, like MyTechopinion.com, which has the tagline "technology for real estate." And, of course, there are numerous real estate groups on Facebook, mostly set up by Realtors -- either for real estate specialists to converge and discuss ways to do their jobs better -- but also to identify and help first time home buyers.

NEXT: How Facebook is changing real estate >>