With the Internet portrayed as so important in today's new-home search, what percentage of buyers would you think said information found online had a major impact on their decision? According to a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, just 11 percent of buyers said the Internet had a major impact.

And I promise I didn’t know this additional factoid until I got two pages into the survey results (and had already started writing this post), but the survey points out the Internet is far from the only place people are looking for homes. They also use newspapers (49 percent) and real estate agents (47 percent).

Of those who used the Internet in their housing search, according to the survey:
• 57 percent said the online info reduced the number of places they looked at
• 29 percent said such info helped them save money on their house or apartment
• 23 percent said the Internet had a major impact on their housing decision
• 42 percent said it had no impact at all