Once upon a time, house hunters and their real estate agents spent hours poring over maps, driving up and down streets looking for signs that read "for sale" and walking around in countless open houses looking for just the right place to call home. They wore out their tires, their shoes and often their patience, and still they had to keep searching.

Then slowly but surely the Internet and digital cameras changed all that. Home buyers could sit at home and take virtual tours of neighborhoods and houses, scrolling through hundreds of listings before picking up the phone to call an agent. Digital cameras meant every room could be documented, and if you wanted to see exactly what kind of handles were on those kitchen cabinets, you could ask the agent to send you a picture. Soon agents could toss out their maps and rely on their GPS to program their route from house to house in the most efficient way possible.

Christopher Oquendo/Special (ENLARGE)

Client Chuck Parrish was able to preview high-rise listings via Yahoo photos, including the Phoenix, with its opulent penthouse apartment.

Christopher Oquendo/Special (ENLARGE)

Willie and Debbie Bielen go over a virtual tour of their home at the Terminus sales center.

Christopher Oquendo/Special (ENLARGE)

Cream-of-the-crop listings included a two-story penthouse at the Phoenix on Peachtree with a grand view of the city.

Barbara Malone is one of the founding members of Jenny Pruitt & Associates and remembers when there were no fax machines, no cellphones and no lock boxes. "Talk about hard," she laughs. These days, Malone can be found in her car with iPhone, laptop and GPS at the ready. No slave to wireless cafes, she has an air card that links her to the Internet wherever she is.

"Now home buyers with very little sophistication can go online not only to look at houses, but to check what's going on in that area with taxes and with other sales. By the time they start working with their agent, they're better educated, and that makes the physical search a lot easier. All the research they do makes them more knowledgeable buyers, too."

Malone remembers when the first change was the ability to see the exteriors online. "Interiors came along next, then virtual tours. I use Web sites for all my listings and bring in a professional photographer. The Web sites have lots of photos, floor plans and information about public and private schools and community amenities. Some Web sites even include satellite maps that give you almost a street-level look at the neighborhood."

In addition to the Internet, Malone has been using her digital camera and air cards for years.

"If a client doesn't want to waste any time at all, I go out and photograph every detail they want to see, then post the pictures on a photo Web site. It makes it possible for those with very little time and very little tolerance for looking to get the best possible information."

HIGH TECH MEETS HIGH-RISE

Who: Chuck Parrish was looking for a condo in Atlanta. Based in California, he'd only have time for a one-day trip to the city to make a home-buying decision.

How technology helped: His Realtor, Barbara Malone, went shopping, taking pictures in every new Buckhead high-rise and sent them to Parrish via Yahoo photos. E-mail allowed Parrish and Malone to whittle down the list, so when he arrived in Atlanta, he could see just the cream of the crop. Parrish laughs, "I've been buying houses for three decades, and we used to spend forever trying to figure out neighborhoods and driving around and seeing more places. Now 90 percent of the process is done online or by e-mail and with digital pictures. You don't waste your time seeing stuff you have no interest in."

What he bought: A two-story penthouse apartment at The Phoenix on Peachtree Road. After Parrish's whirlwind tour, everything else was done electronically, including the closing. "Technology saved our time and the agent's, too," he says.

TECHNOLOGY SETS THE MOOD AND SELLS THE SPACE

In the sales office for Triumph Lofts on Memorial Drive in Reynoldstown, the 3D virtual tour plays on a continuous loop and music fills the air. Lance Deen, Realtor with Cross-Town Realty, says, "Buyers are looking at real estate online before they even think about contacting an agent or getting prequalified for a mortgage. They're going on Web sites and looking at property, and those with virtual tours and multiple pictures of their properties are getting more visibility online."

"The developers at Triumph understand that today's buyer is tech savvy, and they wanted to accommodate their needs," says Deen. At www.triumphlofts.com there's a flash Web site using music and graphics to create a virtual ambience that mirrors that of the contemporary intown lofts. "We chose our music for the Triumph Web site to be jazzy and upbeat, and we play it in the sales center, too."

Technology at Triumph is not limited to its online presence. The units are all prewired for sound, there's an upgrade to add iPod docking stations that can play music throughout the unit and an upgrade package will put plasma TVs in the kitchen, living room and both bedrooms.

Deen's been selling real estate for three years and says, "The use of technology has definitely been growing since I started, and both buyers and sellers are leveraging high tech, especially now when the market is saturated with listings. Agents who use more high-tech tools with their listings are selling them a lot quicker than Jane Doe with just a sign in the yard."

Malone agrees, "I recently worked with a buyer who didn't have much time. He actually eliminated listings that didn't show him what he wanted to see. It was so important for him as a buyer to have everything he needed online that he made sure his own listing agent provided every detail needed in selling his house. People really are noticing the difference these things can make."

NO MORE HARD HATS

Technology has made selling new construction so much easier. Instead of taking people on hard-hat tours of construction sites, builders create virtual tours of their new buildings showcasing the floor plans, the views and even walking you past the pool.

Kelly Guidry, Realtor with Coldwell Banker the Condo Store has been in real estate since 1994, and now she's selling homes at 10 Terminus Place, the new tower rising at the intersection of Piedmont and Peachtree roads.

Guidry says, "It used to be that you would have a blueprint and renderings to show clients. It was hard to see what you were getting. Now we have a virtual tour that uses real photographs so we can click on a button and show you the view from our 14th floor pool. We can take a virtual stroll through the building, and I can show you the view from the kitchen or the bedroom or the living room of each unit no matter what the floor or orientation."

The Web site for Terminus takes advantage of every technology tool available, from a video introduction of the concept to a 3-D flyover of the property. You can watch the building go up in dozens of construction photos that are updated regularly. A map of the master plan allows you to zoom in for a closer view, and there are more video clips and slide shows of the shopping, dining and amenities available to those who will work and live at Terminus.

"We're selling homes from $300,000 to $3.5 million, and these tools have helped our clients feel comfortable buying our homes sight unseen. We're already 35 percent sold," says Guidry.

The Terminus Web site is www.liveatterminus.com.

ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER

Who: "My wife and I are in the hospitality business, and our business is our life," says Willie Bielen. "We're also empty nesters, so we want to move into the city and have all the convenience and amenities of a hotel-like environment."

What they bought: A two-bedroom, den, three-bath flat on the 22nd floor of 10 Terminus Place. They've got a corner unit with floor-to-ceiling windows that provide unobstructed views south to downtown Atlanta and northwest to Vinings.

How technology helped: "There's nothing to see right now except a building under construction. They did a great job in the sales office with the virtual tour, especially when we could see the views floor-by-floor. You can't guarantee that no one will build something to block your view, but because of the virtual viewing process we could feel pretty secure we're never going to have a building 30 feet outside our window."