The home buying process requires a lot of research.

But who has the time to sit in front of the computers for hours on end, hunting for the information you need in a virtual sea of websites? I know I dont!

What if you could create your own home buying research portal ... a web-based information center that received regular updates on the topics of your choosing? How much time and energy would that save you?

Well, thats exactly what you can do using My Yahoo, My MSN, or Google Personalized. These kinds of personalized web portals have been around for a few years. But within the last year or so, theyve become increasingly powerful and easy to use.

The following steps will show you how to simplify your home buying process by customizing your own web-based research portal.

Step 1 - Set up your free account.
First set up a free account with one of the providers mentioned above (or use your existing login, if you already have an account). Heres where youll find the sign-up pages:

• My Yahoo: http://my.yahoo.com
• My MSN: www.my.msn.com
• Google Personalized: www.google.com/ig

Step 2 - Clear the slate.
I recommend you start by removing all the default information that will be part of your page after you sign up (weather, news, etc.). This way, you can start with a blank slate. You can remove an information box simply by clicking the small 'x' in the upper-right corner of each box.

If you already have a My MSN, My Yahoo or Google Personalized page, you might want to set up a different one solely for the home buying process. Things might get confusing otherwise. Remember, the point is to make this a home buying research portal, not a general information portal.

Step 3 - Gather home buying RSS feeds.
In plain English, RSS -- short for really simply syndication -- is a way for website publishers to distribute content directly to readers who have subscribed to their feed. On the receiving end, an RSS reader (like My Yahoo, My MSN, Google Personalized) interprets the data and displays it in an easy-to-read format.

Heres the best part. Once youve subscribed to the sending websites RSS feed, the rest is automatic. When the website publishes new content -- daily, weekly, whatever -- your page will update automatically.

That might sound technical, but adding an RSS feed to your personalized page is actually quiet simple. All of the technical stuff happens behind the scenes.

My MSN, My Yahoo and Personalized Google each have some form of an "add content" button. You simply click this button, copy the RSS feeds address (which might look like this: http://www.realestatenews.com/dailyfeed.rss), and paste it into the "add RSS" field. Done!

Some websites make subscribing even easier by featuring "Add to My Yahoo" or "Add to Google" buttons on their site. This gives you a "one click" way to add their feeds to your page.

What kind of RSS feeds?
Look for RSS feeds that have something to do with the home buying process. Some examples are current interest rates, real estate news, and blogs from local real estate agents or companies.

With a good mix of these RSS feeds, your home buying research portal will give you an at-a-glance update of real estate information. This will save you hours of time by eliminating the need to hunt the information down every time. The news and updates will come to you!

Here are some RSS feeds you might want to add to your page right away. (Again, to add these to your personalized research portal, just use the "Add content" button and copy / paste the web address below into the "Add RSS" box:

Mortgage rates
Mortgage Rates from Bankrate (www.bankrate.com)
http://www.bankrate.com/rss/Bankrate_mortgage_rates_rss.xml

Home buying news
News for home buyers from Inman News (www.inman.com)
http://www.inman.com/rss/IMRSS2_Consumer.xml

Real estate articles
Real estate articles from All Business (www.allbusiness.com)
http://www.allbusiness.com/rss/rss.asp?Center_ID=4026
Note: This link is not an RSS feed. It's a page that offers a variety of RSS feeds.

Local real estate news
To find RSS feeds from local real estate companies or news sources, just use Google and search for combinations of your city name and the word "RSS." For example, "Tallahassee real estate +rss feeds" ... or ... "Houston real estate +rss."

End Result
Once your page is set up, youll have a real-time information center customized with information of your choosing. This will simplify your home buying process by reducing the time you spend researching. Just log in to your page, and youll instantly have the latest interest rates, home updates, local real estate news and more.

What could be easier than that?

* Copyright 2006, Brandon Cornett. You may republish this article if you keep the byline and author's note, and also leave the hyperlinks active.