How to Hunt for your New House On-line

TOP TIPS FOR HOUSE HUNTING ONLINE

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Hunting for a new home DIY, online is a great place to start your search, but it should not be your end all be all. Good listing agents are excellent at highlighting the best features of the home, but keep in mind there may be more than meets the eye. To make the most of your time and efforts and gather a well-rounded picture of home listings online, keep the following three things in mind.

Stay up to date. When you start your search, make sure you find a site that pulls up-to-date listings directly from the multiple listing service (MLS) where real estate agents actively post their most current homes for sale. Many online resources update less often or fail to remove listings that are off the market, making it more difficult to sort through the clutter.

Pictures can be deceiving. Real estate photographers are experts at showing a home in the best possible light. Many use tools and strategies to boost appeal, such as a fisheye lens to make areas look larger and creative editing to make colors and textures really pop. But, often listings will not contain photos of unappealing parts of the home, like small closets or outdated bathrooms. (Check out my book on home/house photography HERE.)

See it to believe it. Once you find what appears to be your dream home online, call up your real estate agent and schedule a showing. You want to take the opportunity to vet the home in person and explore every part of it before beginning the offer process. Your real estate agent will help you cover all your bases and will ask questions you may not have thought of.

It is awfully tempting to concentrate your search entirely on your time on your own computer, but if you really want an advantage over other lookers for the prime homes, get some help. Find a Realtor you know, like, and trust, and let them know what you are looking for. Members of the MLS (Realtors,) have on their computer, a function that can hold a pretty complex list of requirements.

Just remember that the more complex your requirements, the fewer choices you will have to consider. But that computer function can crank out a list of every house that matches your requirements as soon as they are listed for sale. Your agent can get you that list in email form daily or twice-daily, what ever you wish, This is a tremendous tool in hot markets, and there is a lot of pent-up need/activity right now.

Photo by Lucian Novosel on Unsplash

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