How to buy a house with technology
With today's technology anyone who is looking in how to buy a house can do so by using the internet. People can get all kinds of property information about buying a house this way. They can take a virtual tour, see home details such as what are the area schools, property taxes and also find realty information on how to calculate what their monthly mortgage payment will be based on down payment amounts and various interest rates. A real property search can tell you about the property public records, ownership, history data and history of valuations.
While doing this is convenient, it is still considered somewhat of a sterile way of truly finding the best house to buy.
There are many other factors that should be taken into consideration and those should be done in person and not online. For real estate investors it is different. Getting real property data on a number of homes can assist them in buying a house as an investment. The point of property searches in this manner is to look at several investments at the same time. For the typical first time home buyer you will probably only be focusing on 1-3 properties max.
Once finding a couple of homes in the desired area your clients need to go look in the neighborhood and get a sense of its surroundings.
The neighborhood is just as an important part of the home besides the home itself because it will be a big part of their lifestyle. Things to look for in a neighborhood are; how safe is the area, what amenities are available such as grocery stores, restaurants and dry cleaners just to name a few.
Finding a home in the right neighborhood can also help protect the value of the home over time.
Here are other suggestions to help make sure that the home is in the right area for your clients needs.
- List of Activities: What kind of activities does your client and their family like to do? Is it going to the movies or belonging to a health club? What are your client's favorite stores and how far do they have to go to get to those stores?
- School District: Your clients can contact the local education department to get information on test scores, class sizes, what percentage of students who graduate high school also attend college, and to see if there are any special educational programs available. Even if your clients don't have children, usually a home in a good school district will be easier to sell if they do so in the future.
- Crime Statistics: Your client's should check with the local police department for crime statistics in the area including; the level and type of crime and any trends of increasing crime.
- Economic Stability: Your clients should check with the local city and/or county economic development office to see income and property values in the area noting area stability, whether it's rising or falling, and find out what is the percentage of apartments to homes.
One reason to check on the apartment to home ratio is that your clients may want to make sure that the area they are interested in is an R1 neighborhood and not an R2 neighborhood. R2 neighborhoods can have an apartment complex built next to homes and can affect the desirability of the home should they try and sell it later.
They should also check for any vacant or dilapidated businesses or homes which may be a sign of the economic stability of the area.
- Resale Value: You can provide your client with information on area price trends, inventories, and other information that can help them see how well the home's value may hold up over time.
- Walk the Neighborhood: Once all your client's other aspects have been found they should do a neighborhood "walk-through" just like they would in a home that's about to close escrow. Your client's should try and go on a warm day when there is a greater chance that people are out and about and available for conversation. During their walk they should look for nice, clean, well maintained homes, as well as quiet streets and other signs of the neighborhood's stability.
The internet is a great tool in the house hunting process, but there are so many other aspects to a home that just can't be seen on the internet. Not only should they let their fingers do the searching, but also their legs too in order to get a complete picture of the home they are interested in.