House hunt 21st century style

Many things have changed in just a few short years thanks to the advent of technology and the increasing power of computers.

Just think what shopping for a house was like back at the beginning of the 1990s – you'd look in the newspaper at the property listings or pop down to the local real estate boards.

Now you can do pretty much all your property research on a device that fits in the palm of your hand!

Let's have a look at two of the most useful techie tools for modern home buyers.

Mortgage calculators

Nowadays if you want to know how much can I borrow or how much your home loan repayments will be, you don't need to master calculus and the use of a slide-rule.

Just as well! Instead you can find the answer to these questions and more with the help of simple and easy to use online mortgage calculators.

All you need to do is provide them with details about your finances and they can tell you about your borrowing potential, future repayments, tax costs and more.

They can also make performing a home loan comparison super easy – which is great for zeroing in on the best home loan features for you.

Google maps

Where would we be without Google street maps? Well, lost!

Apart from being a superior cousin to those old tattered road maps people used to keep in their cars – which were always missing the most important pages – Google maps is a powerful tool in the hands of home hunters.

Most evidently, it provides you with immediate and simple to follow instructions on how to get to potential properties for viewings – no turning up late after getting mixed up in the streets and making a bad impression!

They also let you check out potential neighbourhoods with the uniquely cool Street View function.