Finding a Home on the Internet

I’m Ilyce Glink. Welcome back to expertrealestatetips.net.

So you’ve decided to buy a home. That’s a great decision. But now what? What’s your next step?

Well, if you’re like 80 percent of home buyers, you’ll flip the switch on your computer and start searching for a home on the Internet.

Wait — you’re already on the net, watching this video. So let’s jump ahead and talk about what kinds of stuff you can find out about homes and the home buying process.

Like most things in life, there are pros and cons to using the Internet during your house hunt.

The Internet is great for helping you identity prospective cities or neighborhoods, and learning more about what’s in those neighborhoods — like schools, shopping, fun stuff to do, what’s in the local library, and other information like that.

The Internet will help you check out demographics and statistics that define a neighborhood, and give you a taste of what’s on the market. You can even start shopping around for a loan.

What doesn’t the Internet have?

You’re not going to find every home for sale listed on any one site. And the information may not be quite up to date.

You also won’t get that warm, personal touch, although many Web site will eventually force you to talk to a broker. And you won’t get a sense of the house and neighborhood in the same way as if you walking through it.

I also think that Web sites can just overwhelm you with detail that may not matter.

The truth is, some real estate Web sites are a waste of time. You’ll find the same information on multiple sites. Sometimes a site tries to pass itself off as impartial when it’s really all about getting your personal information to sell to someone in the business. But there are also some great Web sites that will help you find out a lot of great information and will help you figure out what you really want to do.

By the way, you’re on one of those right now.