A property search in New Orleans
just ain’t what it used to be.
Young adults grew up with computers, so to them the advent
of the connected world—the Internet—brought fewer startling lifestyle changes
than it did for their parents and grandparents. But for anyone who thought the
emergence of the Web would be the most lifestyle-changing technical innovation to
happen in our lifetimes: SURPRISE! Now
the whole circus has gone mobile—migrated into phones and tablets and
who-knows-what other kinds of devices—all bluetoothed and wirelessed everywhere!
The Wired World brought information into our offices and
homes (to the dismay of encyclopedia and dictionary salesmen everywhere); now the
Wireless World brings information to wherever we are at any moment (to the
dismay of mapmakers and newspaper publishers everywhere).
Yikes! One of the most head-spinning results is the
transformation of New Orleans property searches. Astoundingly, the NAR tells us
that 62% percent of those who buy homes today view them first online! No wonder—the
Internet has sped up our already busy lives, so our overloaded schedules make
it all but mandatory to look for properties online first—before creating the
list of properties we want to view in person.
One of the things you’ll notice immediately when you begin
an New Orleans property search is the sheer number of results that can come up.
That makes it all too easy to find yourself spending more search time than
you’d like—sometimes even becoming overwhelmed. To make sure that doesn’t
happen, there are a few shortcuts you can take to get the most out of every New
Orleans online property search.
Prioritize
A good first step is offline: before you click anywhere, make
a list of all of the things that are absolute “must-haves” for your New Orleans
home. This list will provide the basis for all your searches, and weed out
time-wasters. Next, create a list of “nice to haves.” If your first list yields
too many candidates, use this second one to narrow the field (if your in-person
tours don’t pay off, you can always return to List One).
Narrow the
Area
If you already know the general neighborhood you’d like to
live in, use that to limit the search results. You don’t need to know the area
intimately since many sites allow you to search by map or by radius from a
specific location (like a school or workplace).
Use
Several Sites
There are literally hundreds of real estate search sites,
so make it a point to look at those using New Orleans’s MLS (multiple listing
service). They have the broadest assemblage of properties regardless of the
listing agent. Online sites like Zillow.com and Trulia.com can also be useful
in widening your New Orleans property search,
frequently including homes that are for sale by owner—often not listed by the
MLS service (though if you want a buyer agent’s help, you should make sure the
owner is willing to work with your agent).
Ready to start your property search here in New Orleans? Give
me a call—I can send you new listings that meet your criteria the instant they come
online!
Terez Harris NOLA Real Estate Group
(504)297-2619
Harris.Terez@gmail.com
Keller Williams Realty New Orleans 8601 Leake Ave. New Orleans, LA 70118 504-862-0100
Each office independently owned and operated. All brokers licensed in the state of Louisiana.
No comments:
Post a Comment