Finding and at last settling in the home of your dreams can be a frustrating and overwhelming experience. This is especially the case if you’re buying your first house or using the traditional route, which is using the first real estate agent you can think of. To find a home that will satisfy your needs and preferences, it will for sure have to take more than just dealing with a single realtor. You will want to compare several property options, not to mention the importance of carefully choosing a neighborhood or location that is safe, comfortable and convenient for you. But thanks to technology and the internet, you can get dozens of information right from the comfort of your home. You don’t have to spend your precious time and fuel to visit a property that will end up not impressing you at first sight.
But even then, sometimes it can get confusing. It is easy to get lost online when searching for a property, considering that about half the search results on search engine result pages are related to products and services. And needless to mention, it’s in human nature that confusion mostly sets in when we’re presented with so many options to choose from. This being the case, ever found yourself lost online when looking to buy a property?
The following pointers describe an easy… actually a few easy ways you can use to find your dream home on the web.
1. Know What You Want
As obvious as it may sound, the only way you can find your dream home is if you know exactly what to look for. When searching on the web for a house that you would call your dream home, it is best to have some ideas in mind about what exactly would satisfy your needs, dreams, and preferences. For this reason, you might want to take a pen and paper and jot down some of the features you’ want your home to possess. This may include your preferred neighborhood, home size, number of rooms, and design, as well as the internal and external features, just to name a few. From there, you can proceed with confidence to the internet and you will have an easier experience when it comes to narrowing your options down.
2. Local Online Search
You’ve probably done this already; or perhaps not. With literally every major business being online today, it is absolutely crucial to make google your friend when finding your dream home online. As a matter of fact, Google My Business is one of the best ways to search for local businesses, among which your potential realtors are. It will only cost you seconds to type and you will get websites that offer these services. The process may be a bit tedious, but if you’re keen enough, higher chances are that you’ll find your dream property within a blink.
3. Use Property Listing Sites
There are many properties listing sites online. Some of them concentrate on homes for sale in certain neighborhoods, whereas others are regional and go across the borders. The list may be endless, but here are some good places you can look and you never know, the home of your dreams could just be sitting right there waiting for you:
Realtor:
Run by the National Association of Realtors, realtor.com is one of the most popular listed sites for American home buyers. It has a good user interface and provides up-to-date listings of property that is currently on sale in various areas. It can be a good place to start.
Redfin:
Even though it hasn’t been around for so long, Redfin is another great online property listing site that you could potentially find your dream house. The best thing about Redfin is that you can get bunches of information about each and every property, including for how long the property has been on the market. You can also get information about the neighborhood, the expected annual property taxes and so on.
Zillow:
Zillow.com is another great place to try, especially when looking for property in states such as Washington, Florida, and Texas. It is a hub of real estate listings with estimate values against property that is available for sale or foreclosure, as well as homes that are not for sale. This means that even if you’re not ready to buy your dream home yet, it can also be a good place to fish ideas. Most of the data come from a variety of sources around the web, which makes Zillow a huge resource for future homeowners.
Trulia:
Another truly helpful online portal you can try is Trulia.com. Pretty much like Zillow, Trulia obtains much of its data from a variety of sources and provides lots of information other than just price and location. You can and view real estate listings by location, neighborhood safety, and even price.
These only are the tip of the iceberg, there are many other real estate listing websites that you can use to find your dream property online. However, these are the major ones that the scope of this article allows us to cover.
4. Real Estate Review Sites
Reviews are arguably the best resource that the internet has brought to the shopper of today. And when it comes to real estate property realtor reviews are just as important as product and services reviews. They can help you identify the best realtors around your area of interest or nearby, if not direct you to the best listings site you can use. Reviews and testimonials from previous customers are also of critical importance, and you can get them from sites such as Yelp, Google My Business, and Angie’s list, as well as lists sites like Zillow and realtor.com. You can also find these on Facebook, which brings us to the next important point.
5. Harness The Power of Social Media
One of the best ways to find something is to ask. However, who do you ask online? If you guessed right, social media can also be your friend when seeking to find your dream home online. With close to or more than 3 billion users on social media, the possibilities and opportunities are endless. You could ask for recommendations from close Facebook friend or even search, social media for real estate-related groups, agencies, and business profiles. It may not be the most practical way, but if you’re lucky, your dream home could be just a few Facebook clicks away.
The internet is amazing. The technology has made our lives easier, improved business, enhanced communication and bettered the distribution of knowledge across the globe. With the few tips above, finding your dream home online can be a breeze.
