Today’s technology streamlines the house-hunting process to help buyers sift through the thousands of listings available and narrow down the options.
When buyers complement the services of a real estate advisor alongside the many functions on these search portals, they can save themselves a significant amount of time and energy.
According to Adrian Goslett, regional director and CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa, using online search portals is not only a safer way to shop for homes during Covid-19, but it is also a great way to help buyers show their real estate advisors exactly what their tastes are.
The filter options on these portals can also prompt buyers to think about certain features they might not otherwise have considered, including whether they would be willing to view townhouses or only consider freestanding properties.
The biggest time saver on these portals is the ability to save searches.
The ‘Save Search’ feature allows you to save the preferences you’ve selected along the way – including the filters options – so you can pick back up where you left off when it’s convenient.
The feature will even send you alerts when new properties hit the market that match your saved search criteria.
Read: Looking for homes
The ‘favourite’ option is also a great way for buyers to keep track of the listings that catch their attention.
This heart-shaped button can be used to bookmark a home so you can see how your partner feels about the same property when you get a moment to review the home together.
Showing your real estate advisor your list of favourite homes will also give him or her a deeper insight into what you are looking for.
One of the reasons some may choose not to use these functions is owing to the login step which is required in order to save user preferences.
Nervous that they will receive a flood of never-ending marketing material after logging in, many choose to avoid it.
But those who do not want to receive marketing material simply need to uncheck the box that gives users this option to avoid receiving any unnecessary communication.
“Time is a precious commodity. Buyers can save themselves a lot of hassle by making use of these functions on online search portals and will win back even more of their time if they enlist the help of a real estate advisor from their nearest RE/MAX office,” said Goslett.
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