The facts of a modern homebuyer like me

I work in the real estate industry but l also happen to be a home buyer.

I am preapproved, prepped and positioned to buy a house. I hate to admit it, but I have turned into one of those obsessed homebuyers. You know the kind; I look for homes at the office, at home, even in line at the grocery store. And no, I’m not looking at the advertising on the shopping cart, I’m looking on my phone.

It’s been eleven years since last I purchased a home for myself so the technology available to me today is dramatically different – and it’s awesome! I not only have great sites like Trulia, I also have mobile apps on my iPad and iPhone, making it super easy to look up information when I am on the go (or sitting in a long meeting).

On the weekends when I’m out looking at open homes, or even if I’m just out walking my dog, I’ve got my trusty app to give me the inside scoop on the neighborhood I want to live in.

I want as much information as possible so I can decide if the property is worth further attention. I’m quick to view properties and quick to dismiss them. I’ve set up search alerts for the area and price range I want to live in and when I receive the alerts via email, I instantly open them to see if the property looks decent. If I see your listing and it doesn’t have a compelling photo in the email alert, you’ve lost me.

In addition to filtering my search by price and location, I also filter by size (it does matter) and open houses. I often hear agents complain about low foot traffic to their open houses. Well, why on earth wouldn’t you list your open home times on every major real estate portal- all of which have mobile apps? I don’t have a newspaper with me on the weekend – I have an app, and I use it to tell me where to go and what open houses to visit.

I am the typical obsessed homebuyer armed with modern technology. I’m connected, I want information, and I want it now. And I’m not alone. 88% of home buyers use the internet in their property search. Are your properties being properly marketed to a modern homebuyer like me?

Ginger Wilcox, Head of Industry Marketing

Ginger Wilcox is Head of Industry Marketing at Trulia. Follow Ginger on Twitter