TECH BYTE: Use Tech to Find Your Dream Home
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — It can be a challenge finding a home right now, with high house prices and mortgage rates.
Tech can make your search a little easier.
AT&T’s Laurie Starcher says your smartphone can help you get started looking for your dream home.
“There are lots of different apps that you can use,” Starcher said. “Zillow, Realtor.com is my favorite, because not only does it give you 3D home tours so you can actually tour these homes from the comfort of your couch, but also it goes through things like flood zones or estimated mortgage payments.”
The apps have a lot of different tools you can take advantage of.
“Make sure that you’re not wasting your time out and about, you know, viewing these open houses, and really kind of narrowing it down to what’s super important to you – whether it be, school zone, whether it be a certain size lot, everyone just has something different when they think about their dream home,” she said.
According to Zillow, late summer is the best season to buy a house, with August the best month to buy.
The site reports that fall and winter buyers generally have fewer options, but more flexibility in price. It’s the opposite in the spring and summer, with buyers having more options, and less flexibility negotiating.
“As a parent, a lot of families want to get their children moved into the schools on that they’re wanting to get them settled, get them really ready to go for their school year,” Starcher said.
Starcher recommends keeping high speed Internet in mind when you’re house hunting. Make sure it’s what you need.
“My biggest tip would be to go ahead and get that install date for the Internet the day you move in, because so many things that you’re doing when you’re moving in, whether it’s setting up your garage door clicker or your doorbell Ring. You want to make sure that you have the connectivity to be able to set that up.”
If you move into a brand new home, and aren’t able to have your high speed Internet set up right away, see if your phone has a hotspot to hold you over.
“A lot of smartphones do have a hotspot that’s available,” Starcher said. “So that can definitely help. If it’s not on your current plan, it’s something that you can add to a majority of carriers. I know AT&T, you can add a hotspot to your plan, you know, for just maybe a certain amount of time if you just need it for one month, two months, three months, that’s OK.”
Starcher says a hotspot can allow up to 10 different devices to be connected at the same time, including your phone, tablet, and TV for streaming services.
