Home Truths. Hunt for homes online

Doing adequate research before zeroing in on a property ensures that you don’t end up making a bad decision. In this regard, the online mode is increasingly becoming the most preferred platform for research among home buyers. A recent study by Google and Zinnov has estimated that over half of the residential buys in key cities of India are influenced by the internet.

Here are the top five things that you should check when hunting for a home online.

Almost all real estate aggregator websites and social platforms give property rankings. These are often based on customer feedback and reviews. A ranking given by a previous buyer will give a good idea of the credibility and quality of the property/project.

Furthermore, a few websites in India also provide their own rankings that are based on analysis of factors like customer feedback, the builder’s completion track record, the number of complaints by existing residents and location. It may be worthwhile to look out for a website or a platform that also gives own ratings in addition to customer rankings.

Many of these websites also have a blog section. They are mostly written by subject experts and cover a wide variety of topics related to real estate updates and trends. It may be a good starting point for any potential buyer to go through these blogs as often they give insights into property trends, news on future projects, price movements and issues on a larger scale, such as water and electricity in a particular area. In case you already have a preferred location or a project in mind, it will always be helpful to run a search if the blog has covered that.

An oft ignored, but a very important tool is the city-based chat rooms available on a few real estate-related websites. These provide an excellent medium where people already invested or willing to invest in specific cities can chat. Some portals also provide a 360-degree connect between agents, projects and builders so that any potential buyer can get detailed information.

Sometimes builders promote and give an exclusive discount or freebies on a specific website that they might have a tie-up with. There are a lot of offers, especially during the festive season. A few websites also have online tool that connects with the builders and brokers. So a buyer can get in touch with them to seek better discounts.

You can get an idea about demand and supply by looking at the number of sell listings compared to buy listings. This helps in negotiations while making a property investment. Similarly, comparing projects of the same builder or area across multiple websites can help unearth better deals and contact numbers of different brokers trying to sell the same properties can give you more powers to negotiate.

The writer is Director – India, PropTalkies.com