Thinking of moving in or around Southern New Hampshire? Cyberhomes, a new website from Fidelity National Financial, Inc. claims to “give you access to most of the same information that real estate professionals use to evaluate homes.” Does it deliver? Yes, but currently only if you’re looking to buy in the southeastern part of the state.
Although the information the site provides isn’t new and is available from other sources, Cyberhomes makes it easy to access by combining it with maps from Microsoft’s Virtual Earth. Just enter the address of a house you’re looking at and you’ll be able to access to neighborhood home values, school information, and comparable home sales. Plus you can access basic demographic information for a neighborhood as well as compare a home’s zip code against the state and US averages for certain factors. The site also includes a reading room with useful articles to help you make the most of the available information. Although similar to Zillow.com, Cyberhomes includes information from Fidelity’s real estate professionals. This information, combined with the site’s focus on community information, make Cyberhomes a valuable addition to the homebuyer’s toolkit. Well, that is if there’s information available for the neighborhood you’re considering.
You see, because Cyberhomes uses public information, the site is only as good as the data supplying it. Unfortunately, the information available for New Hampshire tends to be thin out as you move away from the southeastern parts of the state. For example, there was only one home with information in Keene, NH. However, there was no additional information for the neighborhood or the city. This problem isn’t exclusive to Cyberhomes: it affects many websites that use public information. These sites should get better as more New Hampshire cities and towns get their information online. For now though, Cyberhomes is useful primarily to families looking to buy a home in east of Routes 3/93. Or in Massachusetts, but let’s keep that our little secret.
If you’re looking to purchase a home in other areas of the state you can always contact the town/city clerk or chamber of commerce. Or, you know, ask your realtor. Sure, it’s not very “web 2.0,” but you’ll probably get the same information in the end.