Are you ready to become a virtual estate agent

IT is all too familiar to anyone who has been house hunting.

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Stacks of estate agent details with grainy pictures and descriptions that push the very limits of truth followed by hours tramping the streets only to find that seemingly perfect property has just been sold or backs on to a railway line.

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But could the internet make this a thing of the past Could house hunting in the future be as easy as logging on, clicking on a property, taking a virtual tour of the home and then emailing an offer

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Well the future is already with us. In recent years a rash of online property shops have sprung up. Some are extensions of high street estate agents, while others charge for placing an advert on their site. For anything from �150-300 they offer anything from a series of digital images of the interior and exterior of your home to a full blown virtual tour.

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There are even plans to take this a stage further using the latest broadband technology. It will allow higher quality video images to be sent down the phone line. From the comfort of your living room you will be able to steer a webcam around every nook and cranny of your prospective purchase.

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For the buyer the technology can help cut out needless visits, and, where you are dealing direct with the seller, save on the cost of estate agents' fees. For the vendor, posting your property on the net can attract buyers from further afield and cut down the number of fruitless visits.

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So does the advance of Internet technology spell the end of the line for estate agents Perhaps not, at least for the time being. There are potential disadvantages to buying and selling on the web.

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Without an estate agent you take on the responsibility for marketing and managing the sale of your property. A good agent will have a feel for the area you are looking to buy in, knows the local marketplace and the current going rates and can help with finding a good solicitor and surveyor.

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While you may be able to save money and shoe leather, many of us still prefer the personal touch.