I am sorry if I am late to join this discussion, I hope my experience can be useful. When I bought, I asked my realtor to send me email updates with new houses that matched specific criteria. These emails would come directly to my in-box and allow me to keep track of homes for sale in my area. This was easier than having to log onto some web site each day to hunt for property.
Another important lesson was making sure I had proper insurance. I was not able to close on my property without sufficient homeowners insurance. Again I used the internet to find information on this. I found lots of information and was able to buy a policy at
www.insurance.com. I was even able to make sure my auto policy was updated with my new homeowners information and take get lower rates by having my homeowners and auto policy with the same company.
Hope this is helpful.