Home buyers are getting smarter and faster at a rate that completely surpasses the real estate industry’s ability to innovate. Custom home search is essential when you’re trying to streamline the process of searching for homes online with the newest generation of buyers who are tablet toting, independent thinkers practically born in a cyber café. They crave options and custom home search is one of the up and coming necessities for Millennials.
An article featured in Inman News by Bernice Ross, PhD, CEO of RealEstateCoaches.com and tech savvy columnist wrote, “Move over Realtor.com, Zillow and Trulia — and take your old-fashioned data search tools with you. Your days on top of the real estate search heap are numbered, as are your listings that focus on bedroom, bathroom, and price.” The article, entitled The ays of Bedroom, Bath and Price are Dead continues on to say, “Analytics that evaluate lifestyle, affordability and commute time are the new kids on the block that are about to make finding the right home for your buyers a whole lot easier.”
Millennials are not interested in limiting themselves to only price range parameters, bedrooms, and bathrooms. Sure, affordability matters and proximity to work is a big factor, but these are all simple calculations to them. The ability to have custom home search by lifestyle attributes such as beach-living or college towns make the online search process more conceptual and individualized, sort of how the millennial buyer might see him or herself.
HouseHunt.com lets you have custom home search in a number of ways: including city, metro, state, and by keyword. It also lets you find homes for sale by community-living such as beach-front, waterfront, and resort to name a few popular summer custom searches. Using custom home search by community and then further adding criteria that matter most to a home buyer tailors the approach. It’s the best way to bridge the gap between what a home buyer envisions in a dream home and how a real estate agent can go about finding it. It takes care of quite a bit of homework before connecting with a real estate agent to buy a home.
“I love watching HouseHunters on HGTV,” a Newport Beach, CA homeowner shared with us. “It’s funny how a couple will have a set amount to spend and by the time they’ve met with the agent, what they want and what they can afford are two completely different things.” This is something that agents encounter quite a bit, therefore, having a custom home search online for specific property attributes that matter the most to the individual saves time, helps you better communicate with your agent, and minimizes the challenges many home buyers face when they finally connect with an agent.
In the end, don’t let the internet take away from the heart of buying a home. Dream of the perfect home and let real estate search sites deliver. Use sites that offer a broader spectrum of tools so that you can make more specific home searches. All home buyers are not created equal, your online home search shouldn’t limit you in that way.
Mark is a contributor and author at FindTinyHouse.com. He loves exploring tiny houses and sharing his experiences and ideas. Mark lives in a tiny house himself and enjoys inspiring people to live simply.