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Internet Shopping For Your New Home
March 13, 2007
The Internet has revolutionized the way homebuyers
think and act as they pursue the home of their dreams. According to
the National Association of Realtors, 77 percent of buyers use the
Internet as their first resource in a home search. Recent figures
indicate that nearly 30 percent of new homeowners first saw their
purchased house online.
If you aren't using the Internet in your home search, you're missing
out on one of the most powerful real estate resources available to
consumers. Searching for homes online is easier than you might
think, even if you consider yourself e-illiterate.
Identify Key Wants
Before starting any home search, buyers should
first establish the home traits that they consider the most vital. A
well-defined set of priorities serves as the basic guide for your
home search. In general, it's advisable to have desired home
specifications grouped into categories of importance (separating the
"wants" from the "needs").
Knowing what you want is even more important when searching real
estate on the Internet, because the sheer amount of information
available can overwhelm unfocused buyers.
Scouting Location
Location remains one of the most important factors
in any real estate purchase as well as a highly personal choice. If
you don't already have a specific district or two in mind, you can
use online neighborhood data and community profiles to help narrow
down your target areas. Compare current asking prices by
neighborhood to get an early feel for market factors.
Pay attention to detail
One growing trend in online real estate is to
display an impressive amount of details about the listing. Gone are
the days when the most you could expect to learn are the listing
price, number of beds, and number of baths. Depending on the
thoroughness of the listing agent and the rules of the area, you can
often learn a great deal about a home by reading beyond that first
descriptive paragraph.
Look for the extras
Many online listings include galleries of
additional photos and virtual tours of the home's interior and
exterior spaces. Often extra listing features such as these can be a
great way to get a better feel for a property from the comfort of
your home. Online open house listings provide an additional means of
learning more about individual properties.
Keep track of your favorites
Keeping tabs on the homes that interest you the
most is absolutely essential. Print of listing details or flyers of
your highest rated homes for a hard-copy reference. Whenever
possible, save searches or favorite properties online to easily
track available homes on the market. Tracking listings online can
even help you catch crucial changes such as a sudden change in price
or terms of sale.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about shopping for real estate
online is the pace at which the technology continues to develop and
benefit buyers. Ever improving features such as map-based searches
and emailed search updates keep providing reasons to start the
search for a new house with the click of a mouse.
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