J Clark

What's the greatest thing about the Internet? Is it that there is so much real estate information available? You can find real estate information about just about anything you can imagine. The internet is especially useful for looking up information about real estate in any area of the country, or the world for that matter. If you live in Katy, Texas you can plan a move to Houston or even Orange County, California, Texas or any of the other seven Orange Counties in the United States.

You can look up everything from land records to how and why to buy property. You can even look up prices on most MLS listings from Katy, TX to Los Angeles, California and get up to date changes and complete information about the houses for sale.

You can get information about mortgages, from what kind of mortgage, might be best for you to mortgage calculators which can tell you everything from what your payments should be to how much you can afford and what kind of mortgage you might be able to qualify for.

You can get information about neighborhoods, real estate agents, home builders even find sites that will give you a value for your house. I have yet to see one of these that is particularly accurate. If I wanted to know what my house was worth I'd ask a local agent, preferably one who's made a lot of sales in the area and understand the variables that affect price. If I were looking for an agent or a new home builder, I would go on the internet and start my search there. You can find out everything from how active an agent is to whether or not the builder has a good record or a lot of complaints.

As you're looking at listings, you type in different search parameters, fitting different types of houses or different communities, trying to find the home that fits you best. If you're looking for real estate in Katy, Texas as an example you can cover everything from Katy proper to greater Katy or even cross the invisible border line and look in Houston or Fort Bend County. Almost anything is possible online. You can look up Katy real estate agents or find a service like TheBestofKaty.com, where you can search and see what's around the area you're thinking about, such as local restaurants, pool companies, hotels or private schools. You could even check out the Katy Independent School District (which happens to be one of the best in the whole USA, and find out which school your kids would be going to.

It takes a lot of time, especially if you're not real familiar with how to get the best result. That's where a real estate agent comes in handy. An agent understands how the MLS is laid out. Not only that but they get paid to be familiar with as many houses, prices and values as possible. You could spend weeks of your time trying to analyze all the information available or you could find an agent who's familiar with the area and have the information at your fingertips in no time. That's what real estate agents are for, to save you time, energy and money. People think using an agent is expensive. It's not using an agent that's expensive. A good real estate agent can save you much more than time, they can help you negotiate the best price and deal with the current mortgage situation, whatever it might be.

Real estate agents are like doctors for your real estate needs. It's their job to understand everything that might affect your home purchase. It's their job to make sure you get a mortgage you can afford. It's their job to make sure all the permits, tests, title problems and truth in lending are taken care of, so that when you move into your house you'll know exactly what to expect. An agent learns and keeps track of a lot of local information the average homeowner never comes in contact with. It's their job to keep track of what's going on in their working environment. A Katy, Texas real estate agent should be able to help you with information about the Katy Mills Mall or La Centera shopping center, what school in the Katy Independent School District is applicable for a particular home for sale, be it new or just new on the market.

You click and scroll until you find yourself looking at the same property on website after website. Not all the listings have photos, so you skip by those. The online listings you like most have LOTS of photos - the view of each room, the view out the front window, the view of the back and front of the property, and so on. A good local agent can still tell you a lot more about a particular house. Certain areas may be more prone to flooding, or it might be inconvenient to get to the nearest freeway in the morning. The local school might be very good or not so good. An agent should be able to help you with all this and more.

After a while, you begin to skip the "virtual tours" because they are so SLOW that they bore you. Clicking on pictures is so much faster. Talking to a real estate agent who's actually been out and looked at the houses inside and out, knows what the values are in the neighborhood, and knows exactly what they're seeing and how it might affects your purchase can be priceless.

At some point, you want to know "more."

What if it's a property in a community you don't know anything about or it is a property clear across the country, but you are genuinely interested in getting more information about that particular home. Is it better to look it up on the internet or find an agent who can really tell you more about it.

Like any group of professionals there are some real estate agents who are better than others. Believe it or not, a lot of real estate agents still aren't that adept at what they do. You want an agent who really knows what they're doing. There's nothing like getting a TAXI DRIVER instead of an agent.

What I like to call a TAXI DRIVER is an agent who takes people out and drives them all over the town and sometimes even surrounding towns, looking at every house they can think of. These agents waist a lot of their time and yours, instead of getting a good idea of what you really want, what you can afford and how to best find it for you. A really good agent takes the time to find out about you before they even start showing you houses. A good agent will want to know as much as possible about you as they can, from how much house you can afford and want to where you will be working and what kind of commute you want to make.

You want an agent who will spend time at the onset, finding out exactly what you're looking for, then go out and find it for you. Ask around, find out who the best agents are. If you don't know someone, ask a few brokers in the area you want to buy or sell in. They can tell you who sells the most houses and those are usually the best agents.

If nothing else see who has a lot of listings, that's a start. They have to know something about the area and spend a lot of time out there to get those listings. People don't just call up and ask for a real estate agent to come list their house, at least not very often. They either do research or go to an agent who has communicated with them, either in person or through advertising.

As a result, if you were to look at several different real estate sites (like our web-savvy friend did) you may find that multiple sites will display the listing, but one may have no photos, one site may have one photo, and another site will display multiple photos.

You may have skipped something great.

Heck, a listing may not even display on the web. Or it may already be sold, but it displays as an active listing, or it may be a new listing that isn't on the web yet.

In short, the web is behind. That data isn't always current.

So yes, the web is "cool." More info is available, but there are also limitations.

Those limitations are unwelcome, but in this beginning stage of the home hunt, you still want to be independent and you embrace that independence. The web is a good place to get started, to save you some time when you get real serious.

But after awhile, it can be frustrating, too.

What you need is a someone who respects your independence but will answer your emails and phone calls promptly, someone who can tell you more about a particular property, someone who can tell you if it is overpriced or if it is a "make-sense" purchase. Someone who can tell you when a "three bedroom home" is actually two bedrooms and a study (there is a difference). Someone who understands what a termite report means, how a mortgage works and where to get the best one for you.

That "mentor" is your local real estate agent.

You still get to do the "fun" part, but don't have to deal with the frustration that comes when you need more information or get ready to act. An agent is like a good family doctor, they spend enough time working with you to understand what's best for you and they have the knowledge to make sure you get it.

See the best agent for you in Katy, Texas you can find this agent in the real estate section at www.TheBestofkaty.com

Before you can actually pick out a house, you need to choose what cities or communities you would like to live in. There are many factors you should pay attention to, not only for yourself, but because you intend to eventually sell the home to someone else. Carefully choosing your community is the first step in "location, location, location" and can help maximize your future potential resale value.

Economic Stability

When choosing a community for your purchase, it makes the most sense to buy in a city with a viable and stable economy. Five, ten, or even fifteen years from now – when you want to sell your home – you can have a reasonable expectation that your community will still be a desirable place to live.You also need to take a look at the communities surrounding your area. If there is a not so desirable area close by, is it growing into the area you're looking at or is your more desirable area growing larger, so it will eventually consume the less desirable area. For resale value, it is best to buy in an area that is growing better, not in an area that is going downhill. You need to look at the surrounding communities and see if the houses are in good shape and people are keeping everything neat and orderly. If not then it may grow in your direction and affect your property values.

In addition to residential neighborhoods, there should be a healthy mixture of commercial and business districts. These not only provide jobs to the local residents, but also add an income source that the city can use to upgrade and maintain roads and city services. In most cases having retail or industry helps the tax base of the city creating a lower property tax payment for the residents.

In fact, you should take a drive and see how well the community is maintained. You have probably heard of "pride of ownership" when referring to an individual home or an automobile. Look to live in a city that demonstrates community pride, as well. The one advantage to buying a house in a neighborhood that's hit bottom and is on it's way up is that you can buy a house for less, fix it up and make a nice profit on it. Especially if you buy one that's a little below the quality of the others in the neighborhood so you can get a better price on it.

Local Government Services

In addition to community pride, check on the services provided by local government. One example would be the local library system. Are there several library branches? Do they stock a good selection of books, including recent best sellers? You also want to knwo how long it takes to get a police or emergency response, especially if you have young children or have health problems. See how far away the local fire department is, what their response times are and what type of help they offer. In this day and age you want to make sure that they have the best life saving equipment and training available. It could save someone's life, maybe even yours.

You should also look into local crime statistics and see how the city compares to the national average and other local communities. Is the police force effective and responsive to community needs? Are fire stations located strategically around the community so that they also can respond quickly in an emergency?

Another area of inquiry is community services. Does the city sponsor youth sports and have well maintained athletic facilities and parks? Do they sponsor community events, such as an annual parade? Are there activities available for children, teenagers and senior citizens?

Your local real estate agent, if they are a good one, will have amassed a wealth of information on these subjects of inquiry. It is also another reason to always use a local real estateagent.

Schools

Even if you do not have school-age children and do not intend to have children, you must pay attention to the local school system. That is because when you sell the property, many of your potential buyers will have concerns of this nature. You may not have kids, but the local district can affect everything from the tax base to the resale value of your home, even how easy it is to sell.

You will want to know if the local schools are overcrowded. Take a drive around and see if there are auxiliary trailers outside the local schools. Call up the local school district and see if elementary aged children always attend the school closest to their home. If not, ask why. Are there enough schools to support the local population? If not, are there plans to build new schools? How will building new schools affect local property taxes? Is the local district poor and struggling or well off and how do the kids score in testing.

You should check to see how local students score on the standardized tests. You can ask your agent about these things, but you should also get the local phone numbers so you can ask yourself. Go on the internet, there is a vast array of information about schools. In many cases you can even pull up websites for the individual schools and see what they say about themselves.

There are also school reports available for free on the Internet, many times on the local real estate agents websites. There are also websites, like TheBestofKaty.com that can help you track down information about the local schools in the Katy, TX area or www.orangecountyshopping.com which can help you get information about ORange County, CA. These websites are growing in both number and quality and are a great way to track down real estate agents, homes for sale, restaurants, information on the local schools and much more from calendars of local events to where to go to the movies.

Property Taxes

Property taxes may be higher in one town than another nearby city. This can sometimes affect whether potential home buyers view a community as a desirable place to live. Often, they will choose not to purchase in a community with higher taxes, though this decision is not always justified. Higher property taxes often mean newer and more modern schools, well-maintained roads, and bountiful community services. Don't ever forget that to get something you usually have to give up something. It may prove that by paying slightly higher taxes you get much better schools.

In addition, you will often find that the "cost per square foot" of homes is lower in cities that have higher property taxes. This means you can buy a bigger house for less money. Since the mortgage payment may be lower, but the property taxes a bit higher, the monthly housing costs may be approximately the same in each city.

However, many agents and prospective buyers have a bias against a community with higher property taxes. If resale value is important to you, make property taxes a consideration when choosing the location of your new home. It pays to be aware of as many different aspects of a homes value as possible. The entire picture may look completely different than just looking at a small part. You might have a great home at a great price, but be in a neighborhood where you could never be happy or fell safe. Is it better to buy a small house in a nice neighborhood and move up later or buy a large house in a not so nice neighborhood and hope you'll survive. It's up to you and it may depend on whether the neighborhood is on the way up or on the way down. If it's on the way up it may be a very good investment and worth the time and work you put in. If it's a neighborhood headed the wrong way, you'll never fell safe and your investment will never pay off the way it could.