Internet now the preferred tool for house hunting

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s real estate industry is now benefitting from technological advancement, property portal Lamudi Philippines said, as property hunters now take searching online.

“In the not-too-distant past, people looking for properties drive by neighborhoods or leaf through pages of Sunday classifieds to find apartments for sale or for rent. This is quickly changing,” Lamudi said.

Surveys conducted by Lamudi Philippines revealed that nine out of 10 real estate agents said the Internet is now the preferred tool for the house-hunting process.

Facebook, Google, and other online means are used by homebuyers in looking for properties 92 percent of the time, it added.

“This puts the power to homebuyers, who until recently have to rely on information fed to them by real estate agents. Homebuyers now can choose the property that falls within their requirements, regardless of which broker is handling it. In effect, they get to choose the property that falls within their budget, and let the agent do the grinding later,” Lamudi said.

The traditional descriptions seen on classified ad posts of properties for sale or for rent are not working anymore for property hunters.

“It’s not because brevity for them is a virtue, but because every square inch of newspaper is expensive. Besides generic location, number of bedroom, and price, there’s not much you’ll know about the property, so you have to see it for yourself,” Lamudi said.