Digital tools and platforms have given real estate investors new avenues to widen their home search. Real estate search engines with classified ads have existed for quite some time, but real estate online portals have now evolved to provide a data-backed analysis of each and every micro-market with comprehensive details of the property. These digital tools are now emerging as a one-stop destination for not only buying property but also provide financial and legal advice. The digital trend has gained momentum as customers are now more comfortable when searching and buying real estate online.
Here are how real investors use digital tools and online platforms to search for homes.
Map-based Searching
In the early days of online property searches, you would get a list of properties after entering the criteria like budget, size of the apartment, and location. Today, you can see the actual location of the property and also compare the various properties listed in that area as per their location. Map-based searching is available on almost all online portals and helps you locate nearby roads, hospitals, schools, banks, malls, parks in the area. This helps a potential buyer get a clearer picture of the area where the property is located. Price heat maps highlight price data that is visually shown on a map to give people an idea of the price variation with geography. Map-based searches also inform you about distances and travel times to key areas.
Virtual 3D Walkthroughs
Maps can tell you all you need to know about the location and social infrastructure around it, but virtual 3D walkthroughs can give you a better look at the property itself. In the past, you would have to explore a showroom to see how the property would be. Virtual 3D walkthroughs make use of the latest visualization software, which uses details from the same floor plan along with inputs pertaining to the height of the room, to create a virtual 3D view of the entire property. This feature provides the prospective buyer a 360-degree view of all rooms. It helps buyers get a good idea of the property in terms of space, lighting, and ambiance.
Property Authentication
The main challenge of buying a home online is the authenticity and verification of the property data. Many online real estate companies have verified properties on their websites with real photos and videos of the property taken by data agents. The authentication of a property with photos improves the buying experience. Apart from photos and videos, online portals also collect comprehensive details about the property so the buyer will not have to wonder about specifications. There can be as many as 100 data points for a single property.
Builder Verification
Many online property portals have builder profiles to give users a sense of their track record and reliability. This section provides detailed information about builders and a list of their past, current, and upcoming projects. You can also get information about the price trends of the previous projects of the builder.
