The Virtual Woman: A Woman's
Weekly Guide To Cyberspace
I think Dorothy had it right. There really is no place like home. Your own
home, that is. We all know that Dorothy would never have lasted as a renter
what with that little dog Toto barking at all hours. And renting would not
have afforded Dorothy, Auntie Em and Uncle Henry any sort of tax break
either. That's why this week The Virtual Woman addresses questions on how to
use the Internet to help you get your own home. Now more than ever, the
internet makes information readily available and buyers and sellers are
finding each other directly online. So whether you're in the market for a
new home or just interested in where all this is heading, fire up that
modem, tap your mouse three times and say, "there's no place like
cyberspace, there's no place like cyberspace, there's no place like
cyberspace..."
Dear Virtual Woman:
My husband and I
have finally managed to save enough for a down payment on a house but we're
a bit intimidated. Our real estate vocabulary seems limited when we hear
words like amortization, convertible ARM and a life time payment cap. Can
the internet help steer us through the real estate fog?
- Wasting Away in Rentersville
Dear Renters:
There's no reason to let few real estate terms stand in the way of finding your dream house. At HomePath (http://www.homepath.com) you'll find a glossary that will help you understand a variety of mortage and financial terms. Another way of pumping up the confidence factor before laying down your hard earned cash is to understand all the facts. Home buying details are made easier at The HomeStarterPath, just a click away from the homepage on Homepath.com. The section overview leads you into some straightforward information on the benefits of renting versus buying. A four question quiz called "Are You Ready to Buy a Home"? is right on point when it comes to deciding if and when you're ready for the homeowner commitment.
One more thing: Before you run out and go house hunting, it's always a smart idea to make yourself more attractive to sellers by pre qualifying for a mortgage before making an offer on a home. How much money you can borrow is based on a combination of your income and expenses. By plugging in the amount you have for a down payment and closing costs, along with your monthly income, minus expenses, The Mortgage Explorer at HomeByNet.com (http://www.homebynet.com/) will calculate quickly (and anonymously) what a lender will loan you. Mortgage Explorer is then able to come up with the various types of loans for which you qualify.
Dear Virtual Woman:
I've heard people talk
about finding real estate listings online, but don't know where to look. Can
you point me in the direction of some listings in my hometown?
- Lisa M., Ft. Collins, Colorado
Dear Lisa:
Realtor.com (http://www.realtor.com), the official online home of the National Association of Realtors, is a super site for real estate listings around the country. Last I checked, it contains over 1,331,000 new & resale homes easily accessed by doing a customized search by city. Once you find your home town, enter the price range and criteria of the home you're looking for and Realtor.com displays the available homes along with a picture and the local realtor to contact.
The site also features a comprehensive real estate library and a covenient link on the home page under Real Estate News that will send you to the The Real Times (http://www.realtimes.com/) the online newspaper highlighting advice for consumers and international real estate news.
Another tip: Once you've found a home, and your offer's been accepted, the next step is getting a home inspection. Cruise on over to The American Society for Home Inspectors (ASHI) at http://www.ashi.com/ . This site offers wonderful inspection advice for buyers and sellers. It also has a great Links section (off the homepage) that guides you to areas such as plumbing, roofing and siding that are helpful when you need to go into more depth on a particular inspection topic.
Dear Virtual Woman:
Now that mortgage rates are dropping I'm seriously considering refinancing and switching to a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. Are there any places online that might be helpful to me in this process?
- Martha from Maine
Dear Martha:
I'd suggest you check out Bank Rate Monitor http://www.bankrate.com for all the financing rates you can eat plus some excellent common sense tips for anyone shopping for money. Granted, you won't find this one featured on Letterman but one area I really like is the Top Ten Questions For Loan Shopping (http://www.bankrate.com/brm/green/mtg/mort5b.asp). This checklist will help you in getting organized about gathering all relevant information on potential lenders or mortgage brokers, and for finding out which loan works best for you.
Happy Surfing!
Find these links and more at WWWomen.Com (http://www.wwwomen.com) the web's largest search directory of topics for women online. Email the Virtual Woman with your Internet questions or send snailmail to: WWWomen.Com, Attn: Virtual Woman, 3701 Geary Blvd., #325, S.F., CA 94118. Copyright, 1998. WWWomen, Inc. All rights reserved.
This column can only be re-distributed with written
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Contributing Editor: Rita Kennen
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