When we decide to shop for a new home most of us start that search online, especially in our current season of pandemic distancing. Unless we have a game plan for beginning an online home search it can quickly seem like a never ending and overwhelming sea of information. Sometimes online home shopping can feel like you have to kiss several thousand frogs before you find one diamond in the rough that could possibly be your prince.
Here are some tips to make your online home shopping experience a little less exhausting and a lot more successful.
Before You Begin
Before you look at listings of available homes online, it is good to know exactly what you want and need in your next home. Sit down and write out a list either on your own or with whoever is purchasing and living in the house with you. Get very specific with it. Include what you need such as three bedrooms for you and your two kids. Also, include what you want like an extra bedroom to use as an office or guest space. Know the items in your home that are must-haves that you just will not be willing to invest the money if you do not have them and the items that would be nice to have but you are willing to let go of for the right home.
Now that you know the specifics of what you are looking for you can use all of the great search parameters in your online listings site. This will help you to narrow your search to homes you are actually looking for. Though you may still have to look at some frogs, it won’t be nearly as many.
Related: Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a House
Read the Details
When you look at an online listing the items that tend to stick out are the price, square footage, and cover photo. When you find a home that you want to click on to see more pictures make sure to read all of the details about the listing. Many people get excited about curb appeal, price, and bedrooms that they fail to notice neighborhood, year built, HOA information, and other important nuggets of information that may save you time from going to look at a home you do not want.
A great tip is to look at when the home was built. If it was built 30 or more years ago you will want to look for how old the roofing, HVAC system, kitchen, etc. are. If the home is older and things have not been remodeled or updated this means you will end up spending more money to fix these things as they begin to break down.
Make sure to look at the map location of where the home is. It could be within the zip code you want and still be 20 minutes away from the nearest grocery store or restaurant, it might even add more time than you were expecting to your work commute. You want to know that a home you’re interested in is not too far from points of interest that you go to on a regular basis.
Share Homes of Interest
If you are looking to purchase a home with another person you and that person are probably searching for homes separately when you get a free moment. If you find a home you love don’t forget to hit the like button or the heart so that you can save that home to share with them later. OR hit the share button right away and send the listing link straight to them to take a look at.
Keep Checking Back
Though you have your parameters set as closely as you can to the attributes of your dream home, in this competitive market it may take a while to find a listing you want to share with your agent to go and see in person. Have patience and check back often or set up a search account or download an app to your phone that can send you notifications when a new home pops up that meets your search criteria.
Are you looking for a home on the Forgotten Coast? We would love to help you with your search efforts. Please contact us anytime for finding the Florida home of your dreams.
