Thanks to all who replied to my “Philly housing advice” thread. I’m expanding our search to Lower Bucks County and NJ. Now, I need some actual looking advice.
We went for two days this week, looked at 20 houses with a realtor, and left exhausted, depressed, and frightened about the neighborhoods we can afford.
Our realtors turned out to be unethical in that they promised to meet certain parameters and didn’t (cost, safety, amenities, etc).
Now, I’m considering leaving on Monday and staying for four - six days and really looking around. My SO is going to stay here and run “HQ”: calls to realtors, MLS listings, and so on. We live about 350 miles from Philly, so it’s a bit expensive to do this over and over again.
What I would like advice on:
-Should I spend the first day driving around Bucks and NJ and make calls on houses I see in person that look suitable from the exterior and set up appointments for the following days?
-The realtors my new colleagues suggested aren’t interested in working with us b/c we don’t have $500k to spend. I don’t have any referrals left; am I reduced to an internet crapshoot as far as finding a decent realtor?
-Can I take a “60-day-go-to-sleep-pill-and-wake-up-when-this-is-all-over”?
The absolute best way to explore a new area is to rent your first home there. Then you get to know the alternatives. In this market, you should be able to find a rental pretty easy, I would think.
I don’t know about the U.S., but here you’d drive round, look at the ‘For Sale’ signs, make notes of the names and telephone numbers of the estate agents / realtors. And buy a couple of local papers and look at the property advertisements. Another trick is to spot local homeowners who aren’t selling (e.g. you spot one washing his car) and stop and ask them about the area.
Wow, that’s really sad. I am in the exact same situation as you, house hunting in Austin from Boston. Luckily one of my best friends is pretty well off and directed us to his realtor friend who has sold houses to three people in his family. And we are on the low end of the housing purchase end of things, but he was great, because he truly wants us to tell others about his work, and to buy the next house from him as well.
Maybe you need to ask your friends in your current location for a referral. They might know someone in Philly, or even a trusted realtor might be connected to someone down there. We called our realtor initially just to inquire what a realtor could do for us; we had no intention of using one!
I would say, if you haven’t already, make sure you and your SO have compiled a list of must haves in the new home. They should be absolutes. Don’t waste time looking at homes that don’t meet your criteria, unless you are willing to pay or do the DIY work it takes to get it where it needs to be. We specifically wanted a move-in ready place, so any listing that read “investment opportunity,” “needs minor repairs or TLC” was bumped off the list.
Consider signing up for ZipRealty and getting the MLS listings in the community you want. It has a pretty sophisticated filtering system so you can be very specific about your search criteria. Then it’s a matter of listing the places you want to see and finding a realtor to connect you with 'em. ZipRealty pairs you with a realtor, and you can use that person if you like. Also try Trulia.com.
Also, are you being reasonable about what you can afford? We went with a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, got an excellent rate and perks through working with the credit union affiliated with my university. We wanted to spend below a certain amount but soon discovered we were about $5000 away from homes we really liked. So we went back to our lender, and the extra $5000 works out to a few dollars more a month on the mortgage. We’re both pretty… frugal, but we learned you really get what you pay for with real estate. There’s also the issue of buying a home in a good place, because it will appreciate when you sell it. Before we went house hunting I would have never have made that statement, but now I’ve done it, I know it’s true. Look at the payments and see if you go another 5K or 10K more and still afford it.
You might be able to find a FSBO on craigslist, but having the experience of working with a realtor, I found it much easier. We gave him a list of places we wanted to see and he just took us there. You’re definitely going to buy, so it’s amazing to me that a good realtor would pass up the opportunity to make a certain commission just because you’re not in the multi-million dollar range. I would also suggest that 350 miles isn’t that far - if at all possible you should both go, even if it’s only for a day or two. Everything else can be done online (though we extended our trip to be present at the inspection).
Best of luck, Jennshark. I hope it works out for you.
Hippy, I’ve lived in Austin for 14 years now, and I’m in the market for a house myself. If you have any questions about Austin real estate, let me know.
Cool, thanks, Linus… we found a place in Scofield Ridge, in the 78727 area, and we couldn’t be happier. The right lender and right realtor make all the difference, which is why I hope Jennshark can find someone who will do a good job for her and her SO.