With such a large supply of great deals on the market, it seems like finding a home to buy would be a piece of cake. However, it’s easy for buyers to get overwhelmed with the vast inventory of listings—especially since a lot of them are foreclosures or short sales, which are often more complicated to purchase than conventionally sold properties. Use the following tips for more efficient navigation of the online housing market and make the most of your search for Chicago homes for sale.

Limit location

The world is your oyster but when it comes to house hunting, you need to narrow the realm of possibilities. If you don’t already have specific neighborhoods selected in which you want to search, think about what your top priority is when it comes to location. Maybe it’s being close to the lake or being in a good school district or being near public transportation… Granted there are a lot of Chicago neighborhoods with good schools, L stops and lakefront parks. But when coupled with your secondary and tertiary location preferences (say, being in an area with single-family homes and yards vs. being in a high-rise condominium in downtown; or being in an up-and-coming neighborhood as opposed to one that is already "here"), it helps refine your search coordinates to a more manageable size. Today’s MLS searches are very sophisticated and can be set for a very precise area. This way you’ll only see listings that are located in the parts of Chicago in which you actually want to live. Unless you’re already familiar with the city, figuring out where those places are will likely require some in-depth research. There is a wealth of information on the Internet these days, not to mention an experienced Chicago realtor is a great resource for city and neighborhood info.

Know what you can afford

You may have an idea of what you’d like to spend on a home purchase, but you’d be surprised how much this figure can change once you look at the real monthly costs of owning a home. And that’s not to say it will always be less than you had originally imagined. A lot of times buyers realize they can manage a much higher price range when it is divided up over the course of many years and broken down by monthly payments—especially if you get a 30-year mortgage loan. Talk with a lender about getting pre-approved. The lender will not only look at your current finances and debt to see how much house you can afford, they’ll help you understand how interest rates and down payment amounts can affect your monthly payments. The more aware you are of your budget, the easier it is to set a practical price range for your Chicago home search. That being said, this is real estate and there is always room for negotiation. Asking prices that are slightly over your top number may be good to include in your search because you never know how low the seller is willing to go.

Save your searches

Many online Chicago real estate websites allow you to search homes for sales. But those that let you save your results help you stay organized and keep track of listings you’ve already seen. Dream Town’s search engine has a "favorites" functionality which does just that. At a glance you can see your recent searches and the property listings you’ve marked as favorites. Listings that are sold or no longer on the market are automatically removed so you don’t waste time pining over homes that aren’t available. With this type of technology you can pick up searches where you left off instead of starting over with a new search each time—having to input your price range, location and other preferences all over again.

Get specific with preferences

If you have a laundry list of needs and wants, include them in your online search criteria. The more specific you are, the more tailored to your wishes your search results will be—and then you won’t get stuck skimming through listings that don’t meet your needs. Of course, not all Chicago property search engines are built the same. Dream Town’s is one on the most advanced online searches available to consumers and is actually used to power search engines on dozens of other Chicago real estate websites. DreamTown.com has eleven separate searches, including one for bargain properties and one for luxury real estate. Individual search fields get as detailed as what unit floor level you want to live on and what type of appliances you want in your kitchen. Figure out those things you can’t live without and make sure they are indicated in your search. That way the results reflect only those properties that have exactly what you’re looking for in a Chicago home.