We read a continuing stream of articles about buyers who find their homes on the Internet. Some of them are actually completing their purchase transaction before physically stepping into the house. They take a “virtual tour” and are adequately satisfied with what they see—and ready to put their signatures on the dotted line.

There are several potential problems here. First, you really do need to “kick the tires.” Nothing can replace the genuine experience of a home, catching the feeling that the home gives you as you first enter the front door, looking into closets, smelling the kitchen, imagining your favorite sofa over here, the desk where you do a lot of your work over there. You should sense how quiet the neighborhood is, get a feeling for the neighbors, take the drive to work that you’d be taking if you lived there, check the nearby stores. A virtual tour simply cannot give you the sense of a place that your gut can when you’re really there.

Second, you surely need to accompany a property inspector to gain a clear idea of how well the home will function for you.

And third, you are missing the benefit—the magic, really—of a compassionate, seasoned real estate professional’s help in translating your needs into a physical reality. In buying our home, we aren’t buying square footage amounts and today’s fads and fancies. A great real estate professionals can do what few of us can do without assistance—translate dreams and schemes into sticks and bricks. That help is often more than invaluable—don’t leave home without it. To recieve more information call Lil at 530-550-5007 and visit our web site at www.alltruckeehomes.com.

The Schaller Family Realtors® are Associates of Dickson Realty.