Globrix - House hunting goes 2.0
19/07/09 01:07 Filed in: Personal | Technology
It’s only once in a while that I’m actually impressed by something on the net these days.
A good example of something that has really stood out for me has been the property search engine Globrix.
It is one of the most deceptively powerful little tools out there.
But don’t let the Google like simplicity of the front page fool you. Once you’ve provided it with a rough area to search, by which I mean you can enter “England”, “Scotland”, “Wales”, “Ireland” or ever “Isle of Man”, select whether you wish to look to rent or buy and click search.
But the real power of this system is found on page two, the detail screen.
To say that the filter system allows you to drill down like never before would be something of an understatement.
But lets look at the comparison site just to highlight the advantages.
On RightMove you are able to search at County level and no further and your primary filters are;
And I’m afraid to say, that is it.
However, the Globrix filter screen is something else.
Clicking the “Keywords” section brings up a list of all the key phrases or single words that have been extracted from the listings.
So for example, from the selection above we can see that there are
Best of all are those desirable features we all dream about but have no other way of finding out.
So lets say you’re looking for a 4 bedroom house in Lancashire for under £350,000 that has its own swimming pool.
Turns out, there are three. All come with links directly to the estate agent in question and all match the requirements.
Incidentally, there’s a house in Rossendale with it’s own recording studio.
Best of all was a search I did for houses with their own “home cinema”.
Now in my mind, I picture a small room with a big TV and a sofa. Somewhere dedicated to watching the box. However... not everybody has the same idea in mind. In fact some people are a more enterprising when it comes to “Home Cinema” and some people are quite literal about it.
Case in point, this house in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
It is a seven bedroom property spread over three floors. It’s a terrace house, but looks to be in quite a leafy part of town. In fact, it looks like a very well looked after property.
But it does have a feature that no filmophile could do without.
Its very own sixteen-seater cinema.
I mean, seriously... this is more than a step beyond a few big chairs in a room. They actually appear to be genuine cinema seats.
At which point, is there an intermission in the middle, like in the old days, where a lady would sell ice cream?
Property details for the Bradford mini-cinema and house can be found on the Halifax Property website.
A good example of something that has really stood out for me has been the property search engine Globrix.
But don’t let the Google like simplicity of the front page fool you. Once you’ve provided it with a rough area to search, by which I mean you can enter “England”, “Scotland”, “Wales”, “Ireland” or ever “Isle of Man”, select whether you wish to look to rent or buy and click search.
But the real power of this system is found on page two, the detail screen.
To say that the filter system allows you to drill down like never before would be something of an understatement.
But lets look at the comparison site just to highlight the advantages.
On RightMove you are able to search at County level and no further and your primary filters are;
- Price range
- Property type (Houses, Flats/Apartments etc)
- Number of bedrooms min to max
- Price range min to max
- When it was added
- Retirement properties (yes or no essentially)
- Shared Ownership (shared or not)
And I’m afraid to say, that is it.
However, the Globrix filter screen is something else.
So for example, from the selection above we can see that there are
- 54 properties with their own bunker.
- 2368 properties that have a cellar.
- 504 are three storey
- 29 have caravan parking
- 23 have their own croquet lawn
- 11 are ecohouses
Best of all are those desirable features we all dream about but have no other way of finding out.
So lets say you’re looking for a 4 bedroom house in Lancashire for under £350,000 that has its own swimming pool.
Turns out, there are three. All come with links directly to the estate agent in question and all match the requirements.
Incidentally, there’s a house in Rossendale with it’s own recording studio.
Best of all was a search I did for houses with their own “home cinema”.
Now in my mind, I picture a small room with a big TV and a sofa. Somewhere dedicated to watching the box. However... not everybody has the same idea in mind. In fact some people are a more enterprising when it comes to “Home Cinema” and some people are quite literal about it.
Case in point, this house in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
It is a seven bedroom property spread over three floors. It’s a terrace house, but looks to be in quite a leafy part of town. In fact, it looks like a very well looked after property.
But it does have a feature that no filmophile could do without.
Its very own sixteen-seater cinema.
I mean, seriously... this is more than a step beyond a few big chairs in a room. They actually appear to be genuine cinema seats.
At which point, is there an intermission in the middle, like in the old days, where a lady would sell ice cream?
Property details for the Bradford mini-cinema and house can be found on the Halifax Property website.