It’s an oft-cited statistic that many home buyers start their search for their new home on the Web. And they do so with good reason since a lot of useful information about for-sale homes and their environs can be found online.

What you can find out about a home
In fact, it’s downright easy to find out the location, asking price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and amenities of most for-sale homes. Interior and exterior photos, aerial views and maps that show the proximity of the home to highways, schools, parks, airports, golf courses and so on are also easily available. Home history reports can also be found online. These reports reveal how many times the home has been sold, when those sales were recorded and what the sales prices were.

Other things you can find online are when a home was built, the school district where the home is located, the estimated square footage, the street address and the name and contact information of the brokerage company and agent who have listed the home for sale. Descriptions of new-built homes may include a floor plan as well.

Comps can be researched online too
Information about recently sold homes is also easy to obtain online along with maps that show the asking prices of for-sale homes and automated valuations of nearby homes that aren’t on the market. Foreclosure sales are available too, though a fee may be required to access that data.

Neighborhood information that can be found online includes interactive maps that show the location of movie theaters, libraries, restaurants, shopping areas, parks, airports, banks and other popular amenities within a selected radius and demographics, such as the average age of residents, household incomes and education levels.

In some locales, it’s possible to find out whether a home has been remodeled and if so, whether building permits were obtained for the job. Property tax assessments and homeowner association dues may be accessible as well. Some new-home builders and homeowner associations have Web sites that provide a wealth of community-based information.

More can be found out in person
That said, there is a lot about a home that just isn’t available online. Buyers are smart to do plenty of online research, but complement that research with a visit to the home. You’ll need to visit a home in person to experience the layout of rooms or flow of space throughout the home, see the interior of rooms that are too small to photograph well, find out how much closet or storage space exists within the home and assess the level of noise from neighbors, dogs, airplanes or helicopters, ambulances or other disturbances.

A home inspector or other experts can assess the condition of such major structural elements as the roof, plumbing, electrical and heating-ventilation-and-air-conditioning systems and appliances and detect the presence of such environmental hazards as asbestos or certain types of mold.

More research also may reveal the owner’s reasons and motivations for selling the home, the actual square footage of the home and whether the home is encumbered by any easements or other restrictions on the owner’s property rights.