Looking to streamline the home buying process?  Lucky for you these are modern times with modern devices. Now more than ever, homebuyers are able to shop on their own without the aid of a real estate agent. They have access to timely and accurate information that helps in locating homes for sale by owner and gets them to a quicker sale. Get the lowdown on these new tools and find out how they can benefit you.

House hunting help directly through your phone

Mobile phones seem to be able to do just about anything these days, and assisting with house hunting is no exception. The website Zillow.com (found at www.zillow.com) recently released a free application for the iPhone that lets customers tap into info on over 88 million homes.

The application includes a map that is powered by GPS. As you stroll down a street, the map alerts you to which homes are for sale on that street. It will also list the price, square footage, and number of bedrooms and baths, among other things.

Not only does such a system add convenience to your day, it also streamlines the house hunting process. Using real-time information when you’re in a specific place saves you from having to take time to contact a real estate agent or access your own resources to find out information on a potential new home. Instead, you’re able to determine in seconds whether a house is a viable option for you.

Websites geared toward bargain finds

The real estate website Trulia.com (found at www.trulia.com) now includes a filter that looks specifically for price reductions in homes for sale by owner. The site allows you to search by town or zip code for homes with reduced prices. It also includes details on the number of times the price has gone down, when the prices were adjusted, and how much the price dropped by percentage.

You can use price reduction information to your advantage in several ways. For starters, it lets you know whether a seller is beginning to get anxious about selling the home. If this looks like the case, you’ll be able to adjust your offer accordingly.

Having access to the frequency of price adjustments may also clue you in as to whether another adjustment is expected. If the seller adjusts the price at regular intervals, you may be able to anticipate the next adjustment. This would give you cause to wait a few days to make an offer.

Virtual video house hunting

It’s no secret that the video sharing website YouTube (found at www.youtube.com) has transformed communication on the Internet. It’s now on its way to transforming real estate marketing, thanks to the growing popularity of virtual video tours.

Anybody shopping for a home is likely to prefer a guided video tour of a home over static photos, and several real estate brokerage firms are catching on to this idea. They’re now posting interviews with real estate agents who talk about the areas they serve, including specs on the restaurants, schools, parks, and other amenities of those areas. Naturally, they include video footage of all those spots.

Along with the guided agent tours, virtual tours of homes for sale by owner are being posted. These allow home buyers to view the details of a potential new home in a stress-free, optimally convenient situation.

Market reports with investment advice

Because buying a home is likely the single largest investment you’ll ever make, you might appreciate some cost-effective advice on what the future holds for your investment. Several housing analyst companies offer market report services that provide such information. In most cases these reports cost less than $10 and can be obtained for any area in the country.

Though no firm can be sure of what the future holds, companies that put together market reports are able to offer well-research and detailed forecasts of how price points in specific neighborhoods are expected to change over time. Many construct both 12 and 24-month reports.

Market reports can also provide you with information on the number of foreclosed or distressed properties in an area. They also offer data on how these numbers compare with the rest of a metropolitan area.

Essentially, finding out the strength of the local market where you’re considering buying can help you enormously in determining whether a house is the right investment for you. Such reports are tremendously helpful if you’d like to take the emotion out of your buying decision and look at it from a strictly financial point of view.

Move forward and take advantage of these new tools

While you may think it’s easier to shop the old-fashioned way so you don’t have to hassle with all these new tools, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Though many new tools do require a little bit of learning and investment of time, the payoff they grant you in bonus information makes them well worth the effort. Do yourself a favor and access all the cool tools available for new home buyers. When you’re ready to sign your new mortgage agreement, you can take pleasure in the knowledge that your decision was as well-informed as you could make it.