Repsol YPF

The advantages of Internet when looking for a flat are clear: the time saving; the amount of information; being able to select by area; and the access to countless details and specifications which are impossible to obtain from written adverts. Some websites include utilities to calculate monthly mortgage repayments and have forums and blogs in which Internet users offer information on the properties they have visited. According to the majority of people who use this route to find a flat, the only disadvantage is that most of the advertisements seemingly placed by private individuals have an agency behind them. 

It is advisable to differentiate between online advertising sites and those of developers and estate agents. The former have more traffic, since almost half the adverts are placed by private individuals, an option which gets round agency charges in the event of a sale. It is precisely the success of these portals that leads property companies to use them as sales channels in addition to their own websites. 

Free of charge 

Unlike other on-line businesses, flat hunting on the Internet does not involve any costs, since no transactions are performed or card payments made. They only display the properties currently on the market, both for sale or for rent, but at no time are financial transactions performed. The parties involved, buyer and vendor, do not have to pay anything to use this channel. The property owner can publish his advertisement free of charge and the buyer does not have to pay anything to view what is available. It is a highly competitive formula from a business point of view, since it enables the buyer to find out all of the information related to a flat or a specific area, and at the same time, it offers the vendor the best support in promoting his property. 

Things to consider

If you look for a flat using the Internet, it is important that you bear the following aspects in mind: only register in the sections of profiles that match your needs, otherwise you will receive no end of useless information that will end up in the wastepaper basket; only access websites which feature pictures of the properties, and better still if they incorporate plans of the area where the property is located; and pay a lot of attention to the property characteristics, checking to see whether the details are up-to-date and verifying the modification dates. Almost all of the property market portals include figures with the number of advertisements published and highlight the new ones. This information must also be assessed, as it shows the traffic level and operational capacity of the website. 

Naturally, you must always view the property after making a selection on the Internet, but this process, which might previously have taken several months, is now resolved in front of the computer screen in record time, saving both parties (vendor and buyer) unnecessary visits. When someone is interested in a property after viewing images of the building façade, internal layout and the different rooms, the chances that they will buy are greater than if they only know the basic details contained in a newspaper advertisement. 

It is important that the buyer reviews each and every detail and element displayed on the Internet in situ, checking the accuracy of the information and raising the necessary objections and requesting the corresponding reductions in the property price, in the event that the true features do not coincide with those detailed on the Internet.

The best thing to do is to have a look at the various portals currently available and select a few of them (Idealista, Segunda Mano, Expocasa, Fotocasa...), those which are most useful and suit your needs and preferences. It is not advisable to browse all of the websites or register with more than three sites. The saturation and excess information could be a big disadvantage in this instance. 

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