Real Estate on the Internet - Searching and Researching

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 80% of people interested in buying real estate use the web to search. If you are looking for homes for sale, it can be a very daunting task. The internet is a very powerful medium and is very useful for any research, real estate buying is no exception.

Buying a home involves many different aspects and the internet can help you with most of them.

1. Research the area: If you are planning to buy a house in a certain area, you will probably be interested in information about the schools in the area, crime statistics, demographics, etc. If you are from abroad or from an area and a long distance and do not know specifically which city you would like to move to move, you could be broad in your search.

For example: If you're moving from Ohio to New Jersey and you know you want to buy a home in central New Jersey, you can go to Google and type in "Counties in New Jersey." Once you see the county map, you can search within the county you're interested in and search again on Google for "Urban Cities in Ocean County NJ". Then you take that list and search again to find crime statistics, etc. It takes a while, but you need to know this information so you don't waste time looking for a house in an area that doesn't suit your needs.

2. Real estate financing: Getting a mortgage involves various aspects. You want to find reasonable rates and analyze your monthly payments. Additionally, and also very important, is getting a mortgage pre-approval. Pre-approval is important when dealing with a real estate agent; a real estate agent often expects a mortgage pre-approval in order to show a home and usually when you want to list your dream home.

There are many mortgage calculators on real estate websites and of course mortgage broker and mortgage banker websites. You still have to shop around to find the best mortgage rates, but the internet makes it easier as most mortgage websites allow you to apply online.

3. Finding the Perfect Home: Now we finally get to the point; your interest in finding and buying that perfect home! You can be broader and search for "homes for sale in central NJ" or be more specific with "homes for sale in Jackson NJ." That depends on if you know exactly what you're looking for. Ultimately, however, most real estate sites that allow you to search the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) offer a wide area to search. MLSs can span multiple counties. Once you've found a real estate site that covers your area and you're satisfied, you can inquire about individual properties for sale with that real estate agency.

I hope this helps you in your property search. Happy hunting!

Copyright 2016 Cy Yablonsky. For solar PV panels in NJ and New York go to Free Solar Lease Feel free to print this article but you must include this paragraph and all links must be active and working, no changes can be made