Clicks and Mortar
And so it goes, for days, weeks, even months.
Until the advent of the Internet, house hunting meant scurrying from one "For Sale" sign to another, each home blurring into the next. Now, thanks to the Web, homebuyers can browse in comfort and privacy.
Although most home shoppers still won't buy their castle sight unseen, cruising through cyberspace can save countless hours of tromping through homes and neighborhoods. With a few clicks of the mouse, floor plans, community information, even virtual tours, are at your fingertips, all without leaving the comforts of home or office. Plus, there's no high-pressure sales pitch.
Real estate agents, community developers and builders have all learned that a little bandwidth can go a long way toward luring serious prospects.
Of course, all the information that's now available on the World Wide Web can be mind-boggling. It's easy to surf for hours, and barely scratch the surface. Type "real estate" or "homes for sale" or even try narrowing it down to "Southwest Florida" or "Naples," and the cursor proudly flashes a near-infinite number of sites, from individual real estate agents to companies, communities and builders. It even throws out other enticements, like "beachfront" or "waterfront," and mentions specific place names-Port Royal or Park Shore. But be careful to read between the lines: Naples, Illinois, also makes the list.
Like a mall, many sites try to fill a one-stop shopping need, offering the names of real estate attorneys, architects and brokers, and tips on moving, home improvement, interior design and lawn maintenance. Others are really nothing more than a glowing Chamber of Commerce-type endorsement about local lifestyle-everything from dating and dining to shopping and community commentary that just happens to have a miniscule real estate section. Of course, some sites are thinly veiled advertising, listing only businesses that have paid for a spot.
While no single site can list every possible home for sale, some are truly better than others, providing not only detailed fact sheets on available homes, but also such relevant information as neighborhood demographics, school and crime statistics, even tax payments and projected mortgages.
The National Association of Realtors Web site, REALTOR.com, bills itself as the "world's largest database of homes for sale." The site, which includes details maps, offers listings provided only by local agents who have earned their designation from NAR. Although REALTOR.com does have extras like financing and decorating tips, it's the 1.5 million national listings-including about 15,000 for Southwest Florida-that make this such an impressive site. Between 3 million to 4 million different visitors log on each month. "Searches can be very broad or narrow, right down to a specific address," says Dan Wool, a spokesperson for Homestore.com Inc., which operates REALTOR.com. An easy-to-use directory allows surfers to select from multiple listing services entries (every home is assigned a unique MLS number) according to their housing preference-condominiums, existing homes, newly built homes and undeveloped property. Searches can be narrowed even more by specifying ZIP code, map or neighborhood. Browsers don't have to waste time looking at homes that don't meet their criteria if they input specifics, such as the number of bedrooms, square footage and price range. They can get even more specific with fields indicating community type and ammenities (for example, golf course, tennis courts or equestrian facilities); age of home; lot size; and features such as pool, fireplace, guest or in-law suites.
With just a click of the search button, a list of homes meeting personal parameters magically appears. Most offer exterior pictures, along with helpful prompts for finding out about property tax rates, neigh-borhood information, local businesses and cultural venues, plus a map pinpointing the exact location of the home.
Want to know more about your potential neighbors? The NAR site uses demographic information to paint a profile of each neighborhood with details about average age, income, household makeup, and rental versus owner-occupied homes. The infor-mation is so comprehensive that the only thing missing is whether or not the neighbor has a pool, an open-door policy and a refrigerator stocked with your favorite cool beverage.
Browsers can also compare neigh-borhoods by price points, school performance and crime rates. There's even a box to check if you want the real estate agent to contact you.
NAR-designated realtors can also list properties on several Southwest Florida sites sponsored by local boards of realtors. While REALTOR.com lists about 5,000 Naples homes, the Naples Area Board of Realtors site (Naplesarea.com) includes 7,000 listings for homes, condos, rentals and lots from 1,700 Naples-area realtors. There's also a map showing clearly delineated streets and neighborhoods. In contrast to the NAR's national site, where a $100,000 Naples home appears, the NABOR site is more restrictive. The minimum price begins at $200,000.
Realtor associations in other Southwest Florida cities also have helpful sites. Homes listed by members of the Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte/ North Port Association of Realtors can be found at charlotteareamls.com. Here, home hunters can search for residential property, vacant land, even commercial properties in Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties. Custom search features allow browsers to choose price range, waterfront access, even streets and subdivisions. A photograph appears, along with a detailed description of the home or property, including individual room dimensions, exterior and property features, and water and sewer services. The absence of a map, however, means browsers will have to locate the street name on another site.
The home page of the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors (marcorealtor.com) provides an aerial photograph with each distinctive area of the island labeled-from Key Marco to Smokehouse Bay and Tigertail. Browsers will eventually be able to click onto the location that appeals to them to find a home in these locations. For now, a listing of homes, condos, residential lots and vacation property can be obtained by customizing the search according to price points and other criteria. A click onto specific listings provides a more detailed description. When logging onto the Marco site, remember that "realtor" is singular in the address. Type in marcorealtors.com and the Web site for a real estate firm appears.
Home surfing in Lee County is probably best left to the national site. Neither the Cape Coral association site (caperealtors.com)?nor the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beaches (assoc@swflrealtors.com) allows the public to scan available properties and MLS entries. Both direct browsers to REALTOR.com via links. The Florida Living Network, billed as the "Internet site of Florida's 60,000 Realtors," is the direct state link from the national site.
To find homes that are not listed with a member of the National Association of Realtors, buyers can turn to a number of other sites. Newspaper sites enhance the realm of searchable possibilities. The Fort Myers News-Press' guide to new homes, "Parade," can be downloaded from its Web site (southwestfloridaonline.com). For older, slower computers, set aside at least 30 minutes for the download.
The News-Press site also links to NewHomeNetwork.com, a 140-paper affiliation that summarizes the real estate listings from major metropolitan dailies. As a bonus, this site includes floor plans for new homes; since the majority of the local entries are for single-builder communities, it's ideal for those shopping for a specific builder. Unlike other sites, there's no map, so homebuyers must be familiar with the area they're considering.
Real estate on the Naples Daily News site (naplesnews.com) can be located through classified listings or by clicking on links, such as NABOR's, which lists model homes priced from $150,000 to $5 million. Builders are not mentioned, and descriptions are somewhat generic.
But the easiest way to find a new home, whether you are searching by price, builder or neighborhood amenities, is to log onto the home page of the magazine you're reading now. Homebuyer's site at swflhomebuyer.com provides an all-encompassing list of every new home community being built in Southwest Florida, from Sarasota to south Collier County. Entries are regularly updated and a convenient link to MapQuest takes browsers right to the community location.