Master of your domain
By Thelma Prescott
October 16, 2000

REAL ESTATE FACTS AND FIGURES: So you're tired of surrendering your entire paycheck to your landlord and you think it's time to buy a house. It's a mammoth decision and you don't know where to start. And the task is even scarier here in Silicon Valley because you've heard nothing but horror stories about anything more than a shack costing at least five billion dollars. Gather up your research on www.domania.com. This site provides tools and info that can stamp out the myths and save you some big moolah.

This surf destination is touted to be "the largest free online archive of United States home sales [with] 21 million records." If you want to know how much the villa on the hill sold for, type in its address or zip code and get the answer. Seek out the best mortgage rates for almost anywhere across the country. For would-be sellers, find out if your home will prove to have been a sound investment in 2010. If you sign up as a member, you'll be privy to extended information including checking property taxes and obtaining more in-depth data on homes sales in certain locations.

The experts at Domania offer some valuable guidance for a variety of "house" concerns. All you first-timers who need as much education as you can before you make probably the biggest buy of your lives, are offered a checklist of Do's to baby-step your way to a sensible, less frazzled purchase.