The internet is a fabulous tool, isn’t it? Want to make Oysters Rockefeller? One Google search and you have dozens of recipes at your fingertips. Want to figure out how to get a coffee stain out of your tile grout? We used to have to call our mothers for such wisdom, but now it is just a Siri inquiry away. How about finding out the most beautiful beaches in the world? TripAdvisor and dozens of other sites offer pictures and reviews.
What about finding your perfect house? Zillow, Trulia and dozens of real estate sites provide easy to use property searches. However, as great as the technology is, some properties simply fall through the cracks. For instance, suppose you want to find a home in a particular school district. Or a home anywhere on the shorelines of Lake Wylie. Or, you’d like to find a building lot on the lake. This is where things may get dicey.
Most online searches begin with a zip code or a city, and that might not be sufficient for your criteria. Did you know, for instance, that some school districts, for instance Clover SC, include homes in TWO different zip codes, and more than one town? And the shorelines of Lake Wylie stretch through TWO states, three counties, and six zip codes. If you’re looking for land to build on the lake, other considerations come into play. For instance, many potential properties that would be best suited for building are not coded as land, but as “single family homes,” as they may have a cabin or mobile home currently on the property. These structures could easily be removed to make way for the home you’d like to build.
Some available properties are missed for other reasons as well. For instance, particularly in new developments, addresses may not tie over to the map search functions of some online tools. Also, depending on a particular realtor’s affiliations and subscriptions, some listings may not show up on syndicated sites at all.
So what’s the answer? Use the tools available to begin your search, getting an idea of what’s available and at what cost. Then, ask your realtor to search for “hidden gems” based on your criteria. Make sure you use an experienced realtor who knows the area and category of home that you’re searching for. Particularly when searching for specialty property, it is very important to enlist the help of a realtor who specializes in that type property and has a proven record.
Looking for Lake Wylie lakefront? Contact The Lake Wylie Man team, leader in sales for waterfront property each year for the past eight years!