Buying a Home on the Internet

Find Out What Can & Cannot Be Done To Purchase A Home Online Today

Home buyers of today can use the Internet in several ways to get the best home at the best deal possible. Not only are current listings of homes for sale available for viewing, but several web sites offer historical prices of the property you are buying along with the sales prices of neighboring homes.

Save time searching for homes

In the past, Realtors controlled all home listing data so home buyers could only access that data through their Realtor. This created two problems. First, home buyers were never sure that Realtors were showing them every listing on the market or just the ones that the Realtor would make the most money by selling. Second, Realtors and home buyers wasted a lot of time going to see homes that were not right for the home buyers.

With the Internet, home buyers have access to all homes listed for sale. Nearly every Multiple Listing Service in the country permits Realtors to post listings on-line, and there are numerous aggregator sites that collect home listing data and update it daily. In addition, homes for sale by owner are also available for viewing.

This access to listings allows home buyers to quickly eliminate homes that do not fit their taste or budget and zero in on the homes that are the best prospects. Nearly every listing today has detailed interior and exterior pictures. A smaller number of listings have video. By viewing these photos and videos, home buyers can identify if they have an interest in a property and then contact their Realtor to see just those homes. Many Realtors prefer this method of shopping as it saves them time as well.

Research before you make an offer

Once you have identified the home you would like to purchase, you can use several Internet sites such as Zillow.com to obtain historical price data. Most properties are in their database, so you can see what properties sold in the area. In many cases you can also find out when the seller purchased the property and for what price.

When you make your offer, you can always include this price data to support your offering price. In this way the seller also sees that you are serious and will be more willing to negotiate based on your original offer.

Research mortgage rates and programs

If you are a qualified buyer, mortgage price quotes are available from numerous web sites including TotalMortgage.com. However, in today's challenging mortgage market, home buyers are advised to get an exact quote after speaking with a loan officer. Many loan programs have higher or lower rates based on your credit score, down payment and property type.

If you are worried about qualifying for a loan, you can research programs that may help you get approved to buy a home.

Other Issues

Many problems can arise when you are buying a home. Environmental issues, for example, are an important part of any home purchase. If a potential problem is identified you can research it directly yourself to guarantee you can obtain objective advice instead of having to rely on anyone else for answers.

Closing Your Loan On-Line - Not Quite There Yet

While you can submit your mortgage application on-line, only a few mortgage lenders are offering on-line mortgage closings. And although borrowers can close their loan on-line with their closing agent right now (saving dozens of pages of paperwork), and a physical meeting to close between the buyer and the seller