Beware of Online Inaccuracies for Real Estate

In this computer age where everyone relies on the Internet for information, it’s unfortunate that some online real estate information can be misleading. With the vast amount of time you have to spend house hunting to find a home you love, you don’t want to waste any of it on properties that aren’t what they seem. 

Beware of the following inaccuracies when house hunting online:

• Misleading descriptions – When you visit a property, double-check that what attracted you to it online is portrayed accurately. Ensure that a “fully finished basement” isn’t just concrete floors and drywall or that the “spacious backyard” isn’t as narrow as a dog run.
• Errors – It’s impossible for nationwide real estate websites to manage and fact check all of the information posted to their pages, so inaccuracies often happen — such as wrong price points or incorrect home descriptions. Follow up with a real estate agent, if you’re seriously interested.
• History hiccups – Check with an agent to find out how long a house has truly been on the market. If a seller has switched agencies or removed the property from the market for a period of time, the house could appear to be newly listed based on its official number of days on market.
• Out-of-date information – Agents market many homes at once, and while they might reprint fliers for an open house or relay current information to inquiring buyers, they could completely forget to update the online information.
• Old listings – Be careful about spending time on a wild goose chase. Properties that have already sold are often still listed online. While this may be an intentional ploy to get you to call an agency, most agents are just too busy and forget.

The Internet has made searching for homes and gathering house-hunting information much easier. Just be skeptical, see a home in person, and thoroughly research the history and neighborhood before making an offer on real estate.

If you’re interested in purchasing a home, let me do the time-consuming house hunting for you. Call me today.

Links:

Days on market

http://economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org/2011/05/02/rising-days-on-market/

Making an offer on real estate

http://new.realtor.com/Basics/Buy/ChooseOffer/MakeOffer.asp?source=web

Open house

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/26/cover-story-look-beyond-staging-at-open-house/?page=all