|
||||||||||||||||
Kiss your landlord goodbye
You have two options. Keep a stiff upper lip in the face of "egregious domicidal neglect," or, better yet, buy a place of your own. Join the landed classes, and you'll never have to rely on your landlord again. Wondering what the Net has to do with real estate? Isn't buying a house simply a matter of raising a down payment and pounding the pavement for a good deal? You can't, after all, actually visit a house online -- not yet, anyway -- and you don't want to circumvent that important step. Not if you're smart. But short of actually walking you through living spaces that might suit you, the Net does offer lots of help for anyone in the real estate market. Let's say, for example, that you're just starting out. You're a real estate newbie, and everything you know about points you got from watching Bulls games. No problem. On the Net, you can learn about the entire process of buying a place, including all those unfamiliar terms, without ever leaving your chair. All it takes is a little digging through some articles, services, and FAQs. When it comes time to shop around, you'll have all the facts. Speaking of shopping around, you'll find many properties advertised online. Of course, if you hope to find your dream house on some island in the Pacific -- Bora Bora let's say -- you may be out of luck. Most listings are concentrated in major metropolitan areas worldwide. But if you pine for a two-bedroom flat in Portland, the Net can probably help you out. Dozens of sites enable users to search for real estate by area, price range, and other key variables. As for locating a broker, a growing number of real-estate agents now have Web pages. You'll have to meet the person to see if you get along, but the Net's an excellent way to get started, especially if you're planning to move to an unfamiliar city. Finally, when it's time to arrange the financial details, you can check out mortgage rates, find a bank, shop for a lawyer, and even buy title insurance online. All this may bring to mind that old real estate saw about location, location, location. On the Net, you have access to much of what you need -- in one place -- to kiss that old apartment goodbye.
-- David Miller
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
Go to full Snap Guide list Have advice for us? Drop a line to Snap Guides. |
||||||||||||||||
Help | About NetGuide Live | Feedback Home | What's On Now | Search+Browse | Explore | Net Know-How | News/Reference Copyright © 1997 CMP Media Inc. |