It’s a cyber Dream Home come true.
You’re sitting in your comfy old den when you decide you’re tired of your comfy old den. You fire up your computer and go onto the Web. And from tour to closing, you buy a new house without leaving your old one.
Can it happen today? Virtual house-hunting is indeed becoming a reality.
“The Internet allows you to have the world at your fingertips. When you combine the Internet with virtual technologies, it’s a natural fit in the real estate world,” said Greg Ryan, president of ExecPC, Wisconsin’s largest Internet service provider.
One couple, Wally and Becky Rogers of Salem, Ore., lived the digital dream. Signing on to Realtor.Com’s home search at hss.homeselect.com, they input the criteria for their new home.
“My wife definitely wanted a house with stairs, a dream since childhood. We wanted a house that was in our price range and more than 2,000 square feet. A large fenced yard was important to me to keep our dog contained. I also wanted a study where I could organize and conduct my side businesses.
“I input all of these criteria and we were presented with a list of houses. The closest matches were at the top of the list, but the near hits were also included. We were delighted.”
Here the Rogers went to “real time.”
They drove to all the houses that looked interesting. When they found the one they wanted they contacted a broker. But then they went back on-line to check interest rates through Money magazine’s Web site at www.pathfinder.com/money/rates/loans/bestloans.html.
“By quickly finding the lowest rates in the area, I was able to negotiate with our preferred lender to lower their fees the same day,” Wally said.
The sale was made. The Rogers and their dog have lived in their electronically selected home for six months now and just love it.
But the Rogers’ experience did point out that major gaps remain in the Internet house-buying process.
“Critical in the process is the accuracy of the person who inputs the data for the Web site,” Wally Rogers said. “If the information is not coded accurately, the property may get overlooked. The house we selected did not have the `hot tub’ selected. That wasn’t one of our criteria, but if it was, we may not have seen the house.”
The couple still physically toured the house, though as 3-D technology improves, virtual tours will become more dependable.
Karen Fulton, vice president of Real Select (www.realtor.com), a top on-line realty site from the National Association of Realtors, points out another problem: What if you have questions or need help in the home buying process?
Fulton said: “In on-line shopping, at one end of the spectrum you’ve got Amazon.com, the big bookstore site. You don’t need a person to help. Then you can go on to buying cars, which is a little more complex.
“At the other end of the spectrum is buying a house. We’ve heard of people who have bought a house unseen, but most want to get a Realtor to better define their needs. From books to real estate requires a variety of expertise with a professional.”
And, although you can shop for a mortgage on-line, the full paperwork needed for a closing still cannot be dealt with digitally.
Still, the on-line real estate hunt is becoming smoother and more popular.
The Real Select site, on-line just over a year, not only is one of the most trafficked realty sites on the Web but has the largest on-line real estate list, with more than a million properties listed.
The site includes real estate news, mortgage information, a customized search for each city, a real estate library, and even a movers’ tool kit.
Various real estate agencies’ sites also come with home search functions, mortgage finders/calculators and other features. These include:
Century 21 (www.century21.com).
Prudential Preferred Properties (www.pruproperties.com).
Federated Realty Group Inc. (federatedrealty.com).
Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate (bhg-real-estate.com).
Coldwell Banker Equitable Stefaniak (stefaniak.com and www.coldwellbanker.com).
Realty Executives (www.realtyexec.com).
ERA (www.era.com).
Re/Max (www.remax.com).
Other Internet sites can give you information on just about every facet of house-hunting. Except, that is, who your neighbors would be.
E-Loan (www.eloan.com): A main site for mortgage data, including rate charting and information on pre-qualifying for a loan.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (www.hud.gov): Useful information on housing help available through HUD.
Mapquest (www.mapquest.com): Great geographical help for relocating house hunters.
