dream house: shopping made easier with boards.

while i’m shopping for my dream house, i’ve found it incredibly helpful to virtually ‘shop online’. without a site like Trulia, it would be a nightmare to try and view all the houses for sale out there, especially those in los angeles, since i don’t yet live there. and now, Trulia’s created a tool that’s even easier for me to sort through my favorites, and share them with my mum, my realtor and friends in the local area to get their opinions. they’ve started ‘boards’ much like Pinterest, so you can categorize houses by price, by neighborhood, or anything you’d like — and you can do this on the Trulia website or on their mobile app.

my saved trulia boards and houses.

Trulia Boards are the new, simple way to organize, narrow, and share your favorite homes, and you can Create boards with friends, family, or by yourself. And, they’ve got a sweepstakes happening right now — Create a board by April 30th for a chance to win $25,000 — in cash and a One Kings Lane gift card! oh, and if you want to take a fun, quick personality quiz, try Trulia’s Buyers-Diggs Test to help you figure out what type of home is perfect for you, and where. big surprise — i’m the lounge lizard who likes being at home!

I’ve created boards by area, to keep my head straight and to share them with my mum, who’s helping me shop since she lives in los angeles and can go to open houses and check out the properties before i fly down there unnecessarily. i’ve also created a board for san francisco — just in case by some miracle there’s a house here i might be able to afford. i’ve also created a board for dream houses — homes that i can’t afford, but definitely admire and like certain design aspects of. i think it’s great to see what other people have done to upgrade a kitchen, bath, landscaping etc. and since so many homes are ‘flipped’ like this these days, there’s a wealth of knowledge and ideas out there to save to my dream house board for my own home renovations, since i’ll probably be buying a fixer.

these Trulia Boards are also incredibly useful for me keep track of comparable houses (or what realtors call ‘comp houses’) in the neighborhoods when it comes to having a home i’m interested in appraised, and what similar comp houses in the area are going for. i also like to have an idea of what offer they ultimately accepted on the homes i’ve had my eye on — often these days over-asking price, so it helps me gauge what i’m up against in this competitive market. i’m learning so much about real estate, which i’ve actually found to be fun, and kind of empowering as a single woman buying my own home, and i’m really enjoying sharing this newly gained knowledge with you. so, all in all, Trulia has created these boards as a wonderful and invaluable tool for home shoppers like me, and perhaps first time buyers trying to learn the sometimes daunting aspects of home shopping!

• photography via light locations.

• This post made possible in partnership with Trulia but all opinions and thoughts are my own. thanks for the supporting the brands that make sfgirlbybay possible.