House Hunting Made Easy (or at least a little easier)
By Megan E. Corcoran
Shopping for a home used to mean sacrificing your weekends
for months, if not years! But the Web is making it a whole
lot easier to make the biggest and most important investment
of your life. Without leaving your computer, figure out how
much house you can afford, shop for mortgage rates, find a
lender, get pre-approved for a mortgage, research neighborhoods,
figure out the going rates for houses in the area, take a
virtual reality tour of a home, and even set up a property
inspection once you find the home of your dreams--all on the
Web!
"I see a lot of people doing research on the Web prior to
calling a broker or even visiting the neighborhood," says
Carri Chicurel, general manager at Century 21 MacLevitt in
Long Island. She says that Web savvy home shoppers can tour
a community on the Internet before coming to her. They can
find out about crime rates, houses of worship and price ranges
of homes, without even making a trip to that community.
We're not suggesting that anyone buy a house on the Internet,
sight unseen, but it is the ideal place to start the research
phase of house hunting--in the comfort and privacy of your
own home without pushy realtors or eager sellers. Plus, researching
on the Web creates a better-educated consumer, so by the time
you do hit the pavement with a realtor, you'll be in a stronger
position because of your homework.
"When someone has done research on the Web, and they come
into the office, it's a more bonafide appointment," says Chicurel.
"These are buyers who buy quickly--there is a good chance
you'll have a sale within the first couple of trips." She
says that the photographs of the homes on the Web also help
speed up the process since she can get a good idea of the
style of homes the client likes before meeting them.
Of course, you can't rely 100% on the Web--many times new
listings get published in the newspaper making it onto the
Web. The serious shopper needs to take a three-pronged approach:
researching and checking listings on the Web, checking newspaper
listings frequently and working with a realtor in the targeted
neighborhood.
"A virtual reality tour won't tell you what the house next
door looks like or whether there is noise," says Joanna Radecki,
a New Jersey realtor with Burgdorff ERA Realtors. She thinks
the Web is a great place to start looking for a home, and
she is getting more and more calls from people who see her
listings online. She quickly adds, however, that if you are
relying only on the Web, you are working with one hand tied
behind your back.
The best plan of action is to jump on the Web as soon as
you are thinking of buying a home, but once you pick a community
or narrow it down to a few neighborhoods, talk to a realtor
with a large inventory in that area. The good news is that
the research phase can be completed with the least amount
of exertion and stress. So happy hunting really can be HAPPY
HUNTING!
To get started shopping for a house or apartment, check out
some of the following sites:
www.realtor.com:
National Association of Realtors links to local brokers. A
great feature is that you can save listings (like a shopping
basket) and keep browsing.
www.era.com:
ERA Real Estate network is a franchise of independently owned
and operated brokerages. 2,600 ERA offices are operating in
all 50 states and 17 other countries, so there are tons and
tons of listings.
www.Homes.com:
This site provides a wealth of neighborhood information: crime
statistics, population figures, median income, median age,
and median salary.
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