Searching for a home in Dallas when you are relocating from another city can be a challenging task. It usually involves visiting Dallas for a few days and roaming around looking at homes. Many people start by sorting through listings on Zillow or Trulia to create a list of homes they are interested in. While both of these websites are excellent sources, there are a few other ways you can learn the most about your prospective new home online without taking a flight to Dallas.
Public information such as building records, neighborhood information and crime rates are very accessible and critical to your choice for your new home. Here’s how you can research the homes you are interested in online before setting up a showing.
6 Ways To Research Homes Online
1. Use Trulia’s Map Overlays
Trulia.com's newest “Map Overlay” feature is a great start to extend your research when house hunting. This feature allows you to see school districts, local attractions, affordability, commute, stats, traffic, crime and more! When using the overlay for school districts, you can even sort and filter by rating. The school will pop up on the map with it’s name and basic information, helping you see how close it is to the home you are interested in. The “live well” map overlay is a great way to see what life within that neighborhood would be like on a day-to-day. This overlay identifies walking and biking trails along with playgrounds and “places to play” throughout the selected area. Using this feature can help you understand the area but be sure to use this as insight to ask your agent and the seller questions, rather than a “make or break” on a property!
2. Check Building Records
Checking public information and documentation on the homes you are interested in can give you insight on work completed on the property that the seller may not have known about or disclosed. If you attend an open house and you are told or see that there is a new addition or kitchen update to the home you can look in the records to see if it’s been recorded. If not, it may not have been permitted renovation or addition which would fall under you responsibility if you become the owner and it’s not up to health or safety codes. You can search building permits for Dallas here
3. Use Google Street View
Researching a home’s address using this method could give you some insight on the neighborhood and surrounding homes and buildings before you plan a showing. While this insight can be important, it’s not always fully accurate since this snapshot may have been taken before the property was updated to it’s current state. However, taking a quick peak around the neighborhood using Google’s Street View should be part of your research and will help you understand if the area is a good fit.
4. Use Google Satellite View
Looking at a home using Google satellite view will provide you information about the home's lot, distance between neighboring homes, subdivision layout, distance to apartments or commercial buildings and tons of additional information
5. Use NeighborhoodScout.com
Find out how safe the neighborhood is and information about schools, demographics and more using the Neighborhood Scout website. This site provides crime stats and other critical local data that will help you decide if a neighborhood is right for you. You can use this resource to compare crime rates to other neighborhoods or the overall city or state. Use this to simply understand if a community has the qualifications you are looking for.
6. Use FloodTools.com
Find out if a property is in the flood zone and estimate risk of flooding using the FloodTools website. This site provides you an overview of potential flooding for an area based on public data. Please remember that your lender will require you to buy flood insurance for the home you are buying in case it falls in a flood zone.
ARE YOU BUYING A HOME IN DALLAS?
If you are a first time homebuyer and are planning to relocate to Dallas TX metro area and are planning to explore cities like Frisco,TX, Plano TX, Coppell TX or Southlake TX, contact us. Our excellent Dallas Relocation Real Estate Services provided by top Dallas Real Estate Agents will make buying your first home much easier and will make your Dallas TX relocation less stressful! If you’re buying a home in Dallas, Frisco, Southlake, Colleyville, University Park, Prosper, Celina, Coppell, Irving, Grapevine, Flower Mound, or any of the surrounding communities, we’d love to help you find the perfect place. Call us at 469-269-6541 or get in touch with us online to let us know what you’re looking for. Our Dallas expert real estate agents will start searching for your dream home right away.
Check out our Dallas Relocation Resources at http://www.nitinguptadfw.com/dallas-relocation-real-estate-agent
