The Ins and Outs of Home Search on the Internet

Let's get down to work!

You've gone onto an internet site you like to search for homes. Hopefully you'll appreciate that each site will offer the same basic information, and many will offer lots of opportunities to narrow your search down. Let's say, for example, that you searched for homes in certain Oceanside, CA neighborhoods, and the 21 homes on the left came up. They're all in the right price range, and they all have the two bedrooms and two baths you absolutely require. But do they have garages? Are there views? What, if any, are the HOA fees for the complex? Are the homes owned by the bank? What school district are they in?

Eventually you can work your way through much of this information, but each site you search on, whether it's my site, or another, will always bring up to a question that simply isn't answered on the internet. That's because a home isn't a pencil. A home is part objective, that is, it's so many square feet, has so many beds and baths, is made of this, roofed with that, and sits on so an so property.

But a home is subjective as well. That is, it breathes. It has life. The home will speak to you in ways that have to be seen or heard to become real. You need to see the home. You need to feel and experience the neighborhood. You need to explore any fears or lack of information you may have with someone who understands and relates to you.

It's time to get in the car and go shopping!

Buying a Home - How Internet Sites Make a Difference

We talked in our last post about different kinds of web sites for use in helping you find your home. Today we are going to look at two of my sites to get an idea of how you can decide if a particular one is best for you.

My two web sites,DonReedy.net and BuyHalfAHouse.com are completely different in what I hope they will be able to do for you in terms of providing information.

DonReedy.net is a more traditional real estate site. Here you will be able to easily set up a search for the kind of home you are thinking about buying, communicate with me about seeing homes, get loan information and much, much more. Go to the site (just click on either of the links above) and explore. Note that you can have access to information on all the homes that are for sale in Southern California. Try it! Just click on the "Search for Properties" section, use the map, address or area, and have fun.

Once you see how easy it is to find information on homes, I offer you the ability to get even more information on each home by becoming a member of my VIP Program. All I need is your email and phone number, and I'll provide much more detailed information on all the homes, including pricing options, bank owned (REO) properties, tax information, loans and much more. You can also use the VIP Program to ask me to schedule showings of properties you have preselected.

BuyHalfAHouse.com is a much different site altogether. If you read my blog here at all you realize that I have a passion about why home ownership is important, and that every hard working individual or couple should be able to afford to buy their first home. It's always been, however, that getting your FIRST home is always the most difficult. You have to have a downpayment, one that ranges from $10,000 to $50,000, and have good credit. How can you be expected to have saved that amount of money, or have a great credit score, if you're just in the workplace for a short time?

So I am an "evangelist" of sorts for having people learn about and utilize equity sharing. In the case of parents and children, that means that I teach families how parents and their children can buy homes together, benefiting both of them, and making the dream of home ownership come true.

Visit the BuyHalfAHouse.com site now. Explore the educational sections and explanations of how and who Equity Sharing can help. Do you see how the intent of each of these sites, though ultimately purposed to help you buy a home, come at the subject from a different viewpoint?

Let me know what you think. Next post we'll talk about how to take your first steps after you find homes you are interested in.

Buying a home - Getting started on the Internet

Lets get started on finding that home.

Today we're going to talk about getting started on the Internet. That's where over 80% of you will start your search, and if you know how to navigate all the resources that are available, you'll simply enjoy the process more, learn faster, be smarter, and buy with more confidence.

You probably know that buying a home by looking at information about the homes that are for sale in the area you want is a really smart way to get started. What you may not know is where to look, what to look for, and how to match up the information that's on the Internet with the knowledge of an experienced Realtor, Lendor, Inspector, Escrow and Title person.

So, let's get going. First, let's understand and talk a bit about transparency. That's a buzz word for the way all of us want to do business today. It means that the best Internet sites will be those that let YOU decide what information is important to YOU, not push or pull you to information that vendors, sellers or other businesses want you to utilize before, during and after you buy your home. All good sites (and their are plenty of them!) have in common the purpose of giving you information that you want, and how you want it.

Go to my website, and what you'll see is the basic information you'll need to get started. Let me say that most good real estate agents and companies have web sites that provide information in various styles and formats. Take me, for instance. While DonReedy.Net is my "base" site, providing all you'll need to find an area, select criteria about the home you want, set up searches and be contacted ONLY if you want, I also write and provide information on this blog, and on my companion site Buy Half A House. The difference is worth noting. Using my sites as examples, here's what to look for.

Can you "Search for properties?" This is the mainstay of all good real estate sites. As you probably know, almost all real estate companies now share information about the listings they take (that is, homes that they have contracted to sell), and all this information is presented in a fashion that lets you see pricing, specifications, and just a tiny bit of marketing by the listing company so that you have an opportunity to see why the seller thinks his or her home is just the right one for you.

Also note on my site that I offer "VIP" services. That means that I'm not going to invade your privacy and ask for your phone number or email address unless you decide that the additional services I can offer make sense for you. Always look for a good site to allow you to search for homes without asking for information, and then provide lots more information and services if and when you decide to take the next step.

Okay, enough for tonight. In the next post we'll talk about how my two web sites differ, how to take advantage of the best real estate sites, and we'll also talk about real estate blogs and how they can add to the information you can get about real estate agents and their services.