Tips for Online Home Shopping

Browsing for a new home online is a great place to begin when looking to move or buy a new home. However, simply looking online should not be your only method of your home search.  Here are some helpful tips to remember when you are house hunting online.

  1. Right site – Do some research to ensure you are using an up-to-date website for your house hunt. The site you search on needs to pull from the multiple listing service (MLS) that real estate agents use to post homes for sale, one example is Zillow. There are sites out there that are not up-to-date, which are showing old information, old listings, off-market listings, etc. Better yet, contact a real estate agent who can set up a portal for you that will show you all of the homes that meet your criteria directly from the MLS so that you are only seeing the most up-to-date information.

  2. Pictures – The pictures you see on a listing site can show you the highlights of a home and some truly tremendous features. However, looking online should not be your only go-to because pictures can be deceiving and they do not allow you to truly experience the home. There is always more to a home than what is shown in photos or videos. The pictures should act as a helper in determining whether or not you want to see a home in person and to get a better idea of if you want to put in an offer.

  3. Showing – Once you have found some homes using an up-to-date site and gone through pictures to find homes you’re interested in, it’s time to set up a showing! Give a real estate professional a call to set up a showing to see the home in-person. This will allow you to explore the home, envision whether you could see yourself living there, and determine if it is truly the dream home for you. Any questions you may have can be directed towards your real estate agent who will ensure all your bases are covered!

These tips can be helpful in ensuring your online house hunting experience is positive and successful, coming full circle to an in-person showing and hopefully an accepted offer on your dream home!

 

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