Hunting for a new home 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. Everyone wants to show the home in the best way, that’s normal. But, often listings will not contain photos of unappealing parts of the home, like small closets or outdated bathrooms.
- 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. Use all your senses – smell can be an important indicator of problems. Are the floors soft in places? Can you hear the highway noise? Your real estate agent will help you cover all your bases and will ask questions you may not have thought of.
- If you click on the “More Information” button for a home, you may think you will be talking to the agent who listed the home. More likely, you will be connected to an agent who paid for online leads. Nothing wrong with that, I get many leads that way. Just know that it might not be what you expected. If you already have an agent and are just browsing, just reach out to your agent, give them the address, and they can help you.
Tere Sells Homes 