If you saw him on the street, you probably wouldn’t place computer consultant Thomas Canty in the same league as Lewis and Clark, Alexander Graham Bell or Neil Armstrong. But he is a pioneer.
“People e-mail me and say, `Did you really do this?’ And I say, `Yeah, I did.’ “
Six months ago, Canty and his girlfriend, Nancy, shopped for and bought a house in San Diego from their Boston home, using the Internet.
Tom found an agent by looking up San Diego listings on Realtor.com and the real estate area of the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Web site. He came across the Web page of mortgage broker and real estate agent Thomas Guarino, who sent Tom and Nancy digital images of listings over the Internet.
The couple decided on a pink stucco Mediterranean home for $242,500 and moved into the four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath home last spring. Pictures of the house, as well as the homes Tom and Nancy didn’t choose, are available on their Web site.
Although a pioneer in online home buying, Tom Canty admits the methodology wasn’t ideal. Both he and Nancy would have liked to have seen the house in person, but she was taking final exams at the time and he doesn’t like to fly.
Now, with six months of perspective behind him, Canty said not everything turned out the way he would have liked.
Some of bedrooms were smaller in person than they seemed on the Internet. The home wasn’t easily accessible from the freeway, and neighborhood personality didn’t transport well across a modem wire.
“I think if we’d been a couple miles south of here, we wouldn’t be in the best area,” Canty says.
But while Tom and Nancy “got lucky” with their pick, he also calls it “a fantastic experience.”
The Internet simplified the groundwork, Canty said. And services have since gotten even better, with online, multi-lender mortgage shopping now commonplace.
“There’s no reason why you couldn’t arrange all that over the Internet,” Canty said.
Canty suggests online home buyers start with large listing boards and multiple-party services. And, remember, shopping online for a house takes some adjustments. There are no handshakes on the Web.
He says potential buyers should “make sure they’re comfortable with the technology. At least do what it takes to make yourself comfortable.”
Warren Lutz.
Consumer services
Consumer real estate information is one of the features on a new “one-stop” Web site directory for federal consumer resources.
U.S. Consumer Gateway, www.consumer.gov, is divided into 10 categories, including Food, Health, Your Money and Product Safety. Your Home features Homes and Real Estate, an area that lists information on home equity financing and mortgage discrimination.
The site opens with a mix of latest news and articles, such as the FDA’s approval of irradiation for meat products and a recall of certain curtain-style Christmas lights. Scam Alert! provides information about how to recognize frauds and deceptive marketing practices.
The site is hosted by the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Partners include the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Guiding light
You’ve heard all the Internet hype, and you’ve watched as online real estate services have grown from the experimental stage to real, corporate-backed enterprises in battle over an increasingly Web-hungry public.
You’re ready to expand your realty office into cyberspace. But where do you begin?
One starting point might be the Real Estate Web Guide, a new publication from Real Trends and RealSelect that reviews 219 realty Web sites and scores them on content, technical savvy and apperance.
Every site is ranked 1 to 5 in 29 categories. At the bottom of the page, the reader is given a summary of where the site hit or missed and why.
The coolest thing about the guide is that it doesn’t just list the good stuff, harshly scoring some of the more lacking Web attempts.
For example (and we hate to pick on someone), Prudential Connecticut Realty’s site garnered 2’s in content and technical savvy and a 1 in appearance. “Very limited information,” opined RealSelect’s reviewer. “Home page is not particularly inviting.”
A good number of sites were ranked low for forsaking content in favor of looks. Keller Williams Realty, Inc., got a 4 in appearance and 2’s for content and technical savvy, was “all style, little substance,” according to a RealSelect’s review.
Sites that got glowing reviews included Coldwell Banker Success Realty (“Simple, friendly”), John L. Scott Real Estate (“Graphically very professional and unique”) and Re/Max/Executives/Professionals/Advantage (“chock full of great content”).
The guide is a little steep; it retails at $149.95.
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Chicago Tribune Homes
Additional real estate information, including a monthly index of Inman News Features, is available at Chicago Tribune Homes on the World Wide Web. Go to chicago.tribune.com/go/homes/ and click News & Features.
