By Anessa V. Cohen

The Internet has had a great impact on life as we know it, in so many ways. Today, working without using the Internet in some capacity is almost unheard of in just about any enterprise.

Just as we use the Internet for business, we have gotten used to the ease of using it in hundreds of different ways that impact our personal lives: shopping at different sites for merchandise as opposed to driving from store to store, researching different sources for school use or for a project, looking up a phone number or address, social-media interaction, and the most-used service of all–e-mail!

Not too long ago, having an e-mail address wasn’t a given; some people claimed it wasn’t necessary to their everyday lives. Today, not having an e-mail address where someone can contact you is the exception to the rule, and without one you would be at a disadvantage, since an e-mail address is now requested in just about any application you might fill out.

In today’s world, one of the first questions asked after your name and phone number is, “What is your e-mail address?” And if you do not have one as yet, you’d better quickly get on the bandwagon since this is a vital service today.

Keeping with the times, homebuyers also find themselves utilizing the Internet in searching for available houses for sale, and even for photos of the houses they come across while they are looking.

Multiple Listing Service has always been a popular search-engine tool for those looking for homes in a particular neighborhood. It provides information and photos on the individual offerings listed on the site. Realtor.com is another popular search engine which covers all locations in the United States and offers advice as well as homes for sale to the would-be homebuyer looking for that special house to buy.

A newer search engine that has also become popular with would-be homebuyers is Zillow, which also offers homes for sale as well as photos and some information.

Although this is a good site for house searching and for purposes of viewing photos and marking the location, a homebuyer must also take the price estimates and graphs Zillow provides with a grain of salt. Zillow created some kind of formula that they use for all housing across the country, which causes large price fluctuations with estimates in our area–sometimes way too high or way too low–but rarely correct in the market value structures of the Five Towns and its vicinity.

I cannot figure out how they thought to create a one-size-fits-all estimation calculation when every area is so different in sales, pricing, and amenities for the various types and styles of homes offered; their engine for estimation of market value is just so bad that it’s better not to utilize it.

Trulia is another search engine with similar search options used by many homebuyers. However, Trulia has now merged with Zillow, and it has become very difficult to navigate, as the navigation seems to jump back and forth between Zillow and Trulia. I guess the tech people of these two search engines will eventually work out the glitches so they can eventually be utilized once again without aggravation.

Whichever search engine is your favorite, though, the choice is wide open and there are many options for those who like to search the Internet for new housing. And yes, there is always the old-fashioned way–calling your real-estate broker, asking him or her if there are any interesting listings for you, and then asking the broker to take you to see them–and be surprised!

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a licensed real-estate broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) and a licensed N.Y.S. loan officer (FM Home Loans) with over 20 years of experience offering full-service residential, commercial, and management real-estate services as well as mortgage services. She can be reached at 516-569-5007 or via her website, www.AVCrealty.com. Readers are encouraged to send questions or comments to anessa@AVCrealty.com.

 

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