Reeling in Real Estate with the Internet

Response to Cassi Rosso's Newspapers: The glue keeping it all together.

Regarding real easte, the Internet made my life so much easier this past summer. I signed the least to my first apartment in July. I've been dreaming about apartments since I was about ten. Needless to say, I was picky and clicked through endless websites and listings on Craigslist.org before finally discovering home.

I didn't completely ignore newspaper classifieds or the real estate magazines deposited randomly around UW Milwaukee in my search, but I found myself casually looking through them rather than seriously sitting down and highlighting possibilities. The printed materials were great for local apartments. I blindly wandered a few websites and found myself clicking Racine or Madison listings, and it was easier to stay on course with material physically in hand. But the print provided the room number, prices, location, a phone number, and that was typically it. Did they allow cats? Could I paint? Was a bus line nearby? I had to set up a viewing, and no way did I have time to visit 8,000 locations during the summer.

Searching online, I obtained all this information in a comfortable computer chair, and my thirst for detail was satiated at all times. James Glen Stovall mentions in his Writing for the Mass Media 7th Edition on page 191 that Internet browsers demand visual logic, simple organization and navigation, speed, depth, and news from websites they view. Printed ads are visually logical, and it's easy enough to navigate a newspaper, but they did not speed up my apartment searching process. Websites provided details about hardwood floors and domed ceilings. Their information was up to date, and I knew the apartments listed were actually available. I could even take a virtual tour before stepping foot in, for all I knew, some rat-infested dump.

Thankfully, credits cards or personal information were not needed in that it was a search and not a purchase. I skipped any website demanding profile creations and still received quality results. I look through classifieds when the newspaper is at hand but doubt I will ever make a move on the products. The Internet gives power to the purchaser. Sitting in my much loved apartment as I type this, I'm thaknful it's around.