It’s a given that the advent of the internet has changed the face of society entirely, altering the way we live our lives completely. For a great deal of us, the internet is a one-stop shop to carry out all of our tasks – socialising, shopping and keeping up-to-date with the latest news being just a few.

Another way the internet has changed things is the way in which people search for high value investments, such as property. Home-hunting no longer means trawling through the property pages of a local newspaper or looking in the window of an estate agents; instead, property websites have made it easy to narrow down your search using factors such as cost and location.

That’s not to say that finding a new home on the internet is particularly easy though. Think of all of the property sites you’ve seen advertised – and then factor in all the independent estate and letting agents sites as well! To find your perfect home on the internet, you must first navigate the fragmented world of online property and it’s not as simple as typing a string into a search engine. Here are a couple of things to take into consideration.

It’s easy to presume that one property website will list all the available homes relevant to your search, especially if it happens to be one of the major players. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Much like traditional search engines, different property sites will have different factors to determine how they list property. Not all property available will be submitted to certain sites as well, and some estate agents abstain from listing their offerings on third party sites altogether.

As in the ‘real world’, finding a property on the internet is a long, time-consuming process which involves going around as many comparison sites and individual estate agents as possible and gathering property details. Take advantage of online local directories to hunt down estate agents in your desired area – as a bonus, these directories tend to feature user reviews too, so you know what to expect from certain agencies.

The internet has undoubtedly made it easier to take the first steps in your property search, but it’s a common pitfall amongst house hunters to do absolutely everything online. By actually getting out into the world and physically meeting and talking to estate agents in your chosen area, you can source much more local knowledge and property facts than you would through an email exchange or through their online listing.

Remember that face-to-face conversation often wields unintended slip-ups and fact dropping that may reveal something an agent neglected to put into their online listing! The internet can take you so far, but it’s up to you to seek out the truth about properties.

This applies to viewings as well. Virtual tours are great for getting a feel of the place, but nothing beats walking into a property for the first time and using your instincts to determine whether it’s right or wrong for you. Virtual tours only appeal to your sense of sight as well – remember that even a palace can smell like a pigsty or happen to be located next to a major train route!

All in all, the internet has made finding property a lot easier than it used to be. The best practise with using the internet to search for your new home is to remember that it isn’t the be-all and end-all of your property hunt. Use your common sense, combine your methods and you’ll be living in your dream home in no time!

Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Shepherd Gilmour, estate agents specialising in the Manchester area

Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Shepherd Gilmour (http://www.shepherdgilmour.com), estate agents specialising in the Manchester area

Author Bio: Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Shepherd Gilmour, estate agents specialising in the Manchester area

Category: Real Estate
Keywords: estate agents, letting agents