A big problem with a lot of estate agent web sites, even the ones that collect properties from a lot of estate agents, is that it does not take into account the true cost of alternate situations such as living in a cheap area and working in a more expensive one or just living in where you work. For a train commuter needs to factor in the distance from the house to station, the cost of travelling via rail to your final station and the distance from your final station to your work.
A more developed (although half-baked, of course) web site should be able to work this out both for the public transport user and the driver. From the postcode of your workplace, and those of a few places you commonly visit, you should be able to have some suggestions of good places (actual properties) to live - given commuting costs. You could also expand it to cover local tax considerations and the like.
Oh and it should have an "I have a cat" checkbox on all searches ...-- Aristotle, Feb 27 2003 Relocation assessor http://www.erieri.c...Action/ERIRAUK.MainI don't think this is exactly what you're looking for, as it doesn't tie in with property letting companies, but it does provide detailed calculations of various cost-of-living factors. [pottedstu, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] StreetMap http://www.streetmap.co.ukA map site that knows about post codes and can map properties for sale or rent to that locale. [Aristotle, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] This would just be a public service? Because I can't see real estate agencies supporting it.-- snarfyguy, Feb 27 2003 [Admin: Spelling change in title: Accomodation -> Accommodation]-- st3f, Feb 27 2003 There are various research companies who produce cost-of-living figures for different cities (see link), but the more personalised service [Aristotle] seems to want would be daunting in complexity.
Calculating commuting costs from one place to another is certainly not easy, bearing in mind the amount of information on timetables, fares, etc, you would need to have. With the support of individual companies you might be able to do this for certain areas (e.g. if it only took train fares into account, or car travel based on a mileage figure - very inaccurate, as you can't compare fuel usage without knowing if you're going to be sitting in a traffic jam). But as [snarfyguy] says, I wouldn't expect any single real estate company to be able to support it.
(Would it also factor in less obvious but significant commuting costs, like the presence of a nice coffee shop at the railway station?)-- pottedstu, Feb 27 2003 I think it could be used for a commerical web site because there appears to be a number of added-value web sites for estate agents even this side of the dot.com crash. The more value you add the more you can charge estate agents to feature their properties there - after all, customers might find that areas they had not previously thought of are more convenient than they realised.
Given a problem domain of rail commuting alone the contents of existing UK web sites, with the right plumbing, could just about do this. You would need to know people's tolerances for walking, travelling by train and quality of life. Take a look at the StreetMap site [see link] for something that is approaching this - through a web service version of Moore's Law this idea could be implementable in 3 year's time.
At the end of the day such a site would high-light the kind of human factors that [pottedstu] alludes to - some crazy fool would always want the next step.
Pottedstu: That web site provides information for discrete citites whereas this idea provides information for connected ones.-- Aristotle, Feb 27 2003 Begin with a lifestyle questionaire that asks things like how often you dine out, distance to work, method of transportation, number and ages of children, a rough assessment of grocery needs, energy consumption (avg prefered house temp, etcd) and then use those results to weight the answer.-- lummox, Feb 27 2003 lummox: Thats a really good idea. My wife did notice recently that prices in UK supermarkets depend in part on where you live with Oxford (posh with top uinversity) being more expensive that Aylesbury (fading market town) even within the same supermarket chain.
The prefered house temperature is more relevant to America as in the UK we generally only have the choice of how far from the Artic circle we live and whether we want to live on the coast. In America you have an astounding range of climates to choose from. Another interesting detail.-- Aristotle, Feb 28 2003 <And now the weather>A quick peek shows that 3:20 am temp in Los Angeles is same as 11:20 am temp in London, including wind chill factor. Yay!</And now the weather>True about Cost of Living. A dear friend to many of our elves indicated to my elf that the Cost of living in CA was far too high.-- thumbwax, Feb 28 2003 "Cost of Accomodating [reensure] Calculator"
Factor in cost of living & travel into a [reensure] accomodation search.
A big problem with a lot of estate agent web sites, even the ones that collect properties from a lot of estate agents, is that it does not take into account the true cost of accomodating [reensure].
etc. etc.
Better now?-- snarfyguy, Feb 28 2003 Budget: Beer Taste: Champagne Real Estate Agent [REA]: We've got Krystal in Krystal glas [Homer] Doh! [REA] We've also got Chimay Ale Premiere. [Homer] Doh! [REA] <Reverse Psychology>Hmmm, how about this - Flat Beer in a Plastic Champagne Flute, hmmm?</Reverse Psychology> [baker]<Double-Reverse Psychology>*scoff*</Double-Reverse Psychology> [REA] <Triple Reverse Psychology>How about the champagne of beers?</Triple Reverse Psychology> [Homer] Milllllller Hiiiiigh Liiiife-- thumbwax, Mar 05 2003 Budget: Beer Taste: Champagne Analysis: Drink cheap sparkling wine.-- Aristotle, Mar 05 2003 random, halfbakery