buying home facts

Buying a Home: It’s a Big Deal

Whether you’re shopping for appliances or automobiles, groceries or gadgets, travel services or tax preparers, the Internet has changed the way most people gather information about products and services. For people who are thinking about buying a home, the change is apparent, as well. The Internet now is the source of information that traditionally came from real estate agents, with online listings of homes for sale featuring panoramic pictures, prices, information on neighborhoods and schools, comparable sales, taxes, financing options, and more. Indeed, potential buyers who choose to use the Internet to access new listings and narrow their search may be the best informed and most efficient that real estate professionals have ever dealt with.

It’s no surprise that real estate professionals have responded with new sales models. For example, in a limited service model, some brokers might offer to list a home in the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for a fee, while they hand off other aspects of the sale to the seller. This kind of arrangement can reduce the cost of selling the home, which in turn, can result in a lower purchase price. Other brokers might offer a menu of services from which the seller can choose. Some agents may be reluctant to deal with brokers who are using non-traditional sales models, but the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the agency that works for a competitive marketplace, says these new sales models for buying and selling a home mean more choices for consumers.

The FTC says that the more consumers know about the home buying process before they start looking — either for properties or real estate professionals to help in the search — the more time and energy they can save.