Internet Tools Are Great But Cannot Replace Being In A Home
Scott P. Rogers
No, Amazon can't deliver you a new home tomorrow -- even if you are a member of Amazon Prime.
We are so used to being able to find everything, do everything, learn everything, buy everything, online. And when it comes to real estate, it is easier to understand houses for sale from behind your computer (or more likely - phone) screen. You can now devour plentiful information about a home for sale to include:
- high quality photos
- sometimes, aerial photos
- often, aerial imagery from Google Earth
- sometimes, a 3D Walk Through
- tax records
- GIS data
- neighborhood data
- and so much more...
BUT -- nothing replaces actually being in a home. It's then that you get a true sense of how big rooms are, how spaces are connected, what updates you might want to make to the house, how well the space and flow will work for your family and lifestyle, how the topography of the lot affects your use of outdoor space, how close the neighbors feel, how distracting nearby sights or sounds might be, and so much more. These intangibles can't truly be understood until you are inside a home.
SO -- if you are starting the home buying process, or deep into it, don't think you should just search, explore and learn online until you find your absolute 100% dream house. It will be more productive for us if we start going to see some houses inside, in person, in real life!
