Okay, so you have finally decided to buy a house. As you read diligently every article or book about buying a house, the web-savviness in you just cannot quit thinking, “Can I buy a house online?” Well, good news for you, my friend. Today’s real estate is all about giving people choices, and as the industry grows increasingly web-savvy, you can now “drive” through the neighborhoods that interest you, inspect house exterior, and even peek inside houses from the comfort of your current home.
To make sure that your online real estate search is efficient and effective, follow these five tips:
1. Know your budget
Do not waste your time searching for a house that you like so much but cannot afford. The wise thing to do before you grab you mouse and start clicking is to get a pre-approved mortgage certificate from a lender. This way, you know exactly how much you can afford and avoid being heartbroken from falling in love too fast!
2. Use all the right tools
With so many choices of real estate search engines out there, it is not clever to limit your search to the national ones. Go check out the websites of various real estate agents and brokers in the market that you are considering as well. Further more, it is also a good idea to compile a list of good resources and use them all, instead of just using the so-called best search engine. Trust me, no single search engine can provide everything there is to know about the housing market. By using more tools for your search you will be able to get a clearer picture of the market.
3. Include the minority
It is common for home buyers to consider searching for a house through a real estate agent, and unfortunately, it is the same case with those who favor using the internet to search for their dream houses since the majority of internet search tools only enable them to look through homes that are being sold through agents. Many do not know that agents only list about 78 percent of the homes on the market. That means there is another 23 percent of homes that are being sold independently, and unless you use other search engines, you will not find these houses, one of which could be the house of your dreams.
4. Stay alert
Every now and then some online real estate resources will give you instant notification of new listings as well as other information that might be useful for prospective home buyers through email alerts or RSS feed. Sign up for these emails is a great way to stay alert to the always-changing real estate market. Basically, the information goes to you rather than you go out and look for it – talk about convenience!
5. Look for good blogs
A good real estate blog is a wonderful resource for prospective home buyers as it gives you a different picture of the housing market that might be useful to you as your home search progresses. Shop around for good blogs that cover the market that you are interested in by using your favorite search engines. Once you find them, you should bookmark them and check them out everyday. Those with the most comments and postings are the ones worth paying attention to.
Tell Others What You're Reading!
Connect with me!
