Property goes Online
In his article Online Mortgages, author Alex Hawkes states what now seems to be obvious; “The worldwide web has worked its way into many areas of our lives, from booking holidays, to buying cinema tickets, to carrying out research, to seeking a weather forecast”.
It will be of little surprise to most that the internet has now found its way to and subsequently begun to dominate the property market, from finding a new rental property to investment advice, those interested in real estate are now going online.
It was noted in an article, Sector is taking its place within online community that, “property executives now see the need for a useful Web site to streamline the rental process. Today, consumers can go online to apply for apartments, pay their rent, sign up for utilities, submit work orders and communicate with fellow residents.”
The banking industry has essentially facilitated the shift online, with many real estate firms adopting the “paperless” methods created by online banking to evaluate prospective clients.
“Today's better online screening systems allow users to examine which of their marketing initiatives or leasing campaigns are bringing in the most qualified traffic”, thus increasing the level of accountability required to justify the spending associated with the transition online.
"The growth in expenditure in the past 10 to 20 years on outsourcing errands we used to do ourselves is phenomenal," says Phil Ruthven, of market researchers IBIS World. More so than ever people are going online in search of all things property related, and are ready to spend, says Jimmy Thompson in his article Taking the Pain out of purchasing.
Hot property tips and home DIY help are merely two of the myriad of property related topics that draws thousands of Australians online each week to sites like Domain and Realestate.com.au.
The demand to move online was and still is so large that in some areas it cannot even be met by the largest banks in Australia. An article in Domain notes that, “the major banks are failing home buyers who want to process their loan applications online, with customers facing poor service and convoluted forms.”
In realization of this, the banks have responded and are in the process of further simplifying online mortgage application.
It seems very soon, the multitude of tasks associated with buying and selling property will be predominately online. Those wishing to infiltrate the property market and simply to gain contact with potential buyers would be well advised to join the shift online.
