House Hunting Vent.

Ok, so DH & I haven't really started the house hunt in full force yet because ideally we'd like to save for a couple more months before we take the plunge.

But we've been considering going to Open Houses over the past few weekends ... and most of the houses have barely any pictures!!!!

I hope its because we haven't really gotten into "the season" yet ... but there are so few Open Houses posted on MLSLI!

Also, I *really* wish more people would put up pictures of their houses on their MLSLI listings.

I'd also like to see more pictures ... I want to see the front of the house ... but I also want to see the inside ... I want to see what the kitchen & bathrooms look like so I can get an idea of how much updating/renovations are needed ... or, if you've updated these things, then show 'em off! I want to see the bedrooms. I want to see the living room. I want to see what the backyard looks like.

How do people expect to sell their homes if the info isn't out there for the buyers to see? Not everyone wants to work with a realtor right away ...



Can anyone explain this to me????

Re: House Hunting Vent.

Posted by PreshusSmurf

Ok, so DH & I haven't really started the house hunt in full force yet because ideally we'd like to save for a couple more months before we take the plunge.

But we've been considering going to Open Houses over the past few weekends ... and most of the houses have barely any pictures!!!!

I hope its because we haven't really gotten into "the season" yet ... but there are so few Open Houses posted on MLSLI!

Also, I *really* wish more people would put up pictures of their houses on their MLSLI listings.

I'd also like to see more pictures ... I want to see the front of the house ... but I also want to see the inside ... I want to see what the kitchen & bathrooms look like so I can get an idea of how much updating/renovations are needed ... or, if you've updated these things, then show 'em off! I want to see the bedrooms. I want to see the living room. I want to see what the backyard looks like.

How do people expect to sell their homes if the info isn't out there for the buyers to see? Not everyone wants to work with a realtor right away ...



Can anyone explain this to me????

Re: House Hunting Vent.

Re: House Hunting Vent.

I can't explain it, but just start going anyway. Go look at houses in the neighborhoods and price ranges in which you are interested, even if there are no pictures. The earlier you start and the longer you keep looking at the open houses, the better educated a buyer you will be. You will know what is out there in your price range, how long the houses have been sitting, etc., etc., etc. You'll also get a better idea of things you want and need in a house. DH and I were going to open houses regularly before we were ready to buy and it was the best thing we ever did. We ultimately did purchase one we saw at an open house, too, though a while later.

If you plan to ultimately use your own REA, don't sign in at the open house. Just say that your attorney has advised you not to sign anything at the open house -- b/c you will be asked to sign a piece of paper saying you aren't using a buyer's agent if you buy that house...

Re: House Hunting Vent.

Most websites only allow you to put x amount of pictures on. I find when looking at the pictures and then going to the home look so different. In my experience FSBO I took alot of pictures and did not like alot of them because they were not giving the buyers an accurate appearance, so I did not put them on. Example : In my livingroom I have new wall to wall multi color, in the pictures I took the carpeting looked dark and dirty because of the Andersen windows which has a tint in them. Other rooms look much smaller in the pictures, the Kitchen I can't get all the cabinets and everything in. I had my friends decide which pictures are accurate and should be in or not, but then again I'm fussy. No One has said yet my pictures are not accurate.

Re: House Hunting Vent.

Like Kara said - I would go anyway.

Right before we started officially looking, I started going to open houses. I went to any house in our price range in the area we were interested in.

It gave me a good idea of what was out there in my price range and what the "must haves" were in a house I would buy.

A few weeks after we started this process - we heard from a friend of the family that there was a house for sale by owner. We went to look at it and it blew away everything else we had seen (by ammenities, location and price) so we made an offer.

Re: House Hunting Vent.

I agree with the other posters. Just go anyway. You get to see what is out there and when something really nice comes on, you really know that this could be a good thing. We went to open houses before we started using a REA. We started in March of '07, hired a REA in April '07 and we were in contract with our house in the beginning of May '07, closed in July '07. We probably saw about 50-75 houses between going to open houses & with our REA. When we went to the open houses in the beginning, it really gave us an idea of what we wanted and we were able to tell that to our REA so we didn't have to see so many houses. Good Luck in your search. I'm sure things will pick up next month though.

Re: House Hunting Vent.

And honestly, I'd go look at at all the houses in the neighborhood and price range you're looking -- and some above and below your price range. It really helps give you an idea of what's out there -- whether or not you like it.

You don't have to stay long at each open house. You can be in and out in 10 mins. It's worth it!

Plus, it can even be fun. We actually both loved window shopping for houses!

Re: House Hunting Vent.

I have to definitely agree with the 3 above Posts... You can't look at it as a job or a chore. The same goes when selling a home. Forget pictures get a handle on location and price range. check out the listings on mls and for sale by owner. They both have maps of location of home. IMO

Message edited 3/6/2008 12:20:59 PM.

Re: House Hunting Vent.

And trust me... the ones with the REALLY good pictures for us were the ones we liked the least. They had some super talented photographers.

Re: House Hunting Vent.

narrow down neighborhoods and view all homes for sale. don't rule out due to lack of pics.

i would love to be in the house hunting market right now. when we bought in 2005 it was REALLY competitive with prices a lot higher due to a sellers market.

take advantage of all opportunities. NOW is the time to buy.

Message edited 3/6/2008 4:49:04 PM.

Re: House Hunting Vent.

Message edited 1/30/2009 3:34:36 PM.

Re: House Hunting Vent.

House hunting is a huge time commitment. DH and I started going to open houses over a year before we finally purchased our home. It's good to see whats out there and start to figure out what you like and don't like. Also, online pictures of houses can be very deceiving so don't rely only on that.

Re: House Hunting Vent.

You guys give great advice!

I guess I wasn't thinking that the pictures could be that deceiving (in either direction ... making them look *better* or *worse* than they really are).

And I was hoping that seeing pictures would save me some time & legwork in the house hunting process ...

I promise we'll look at all the listings and go see anything that is in our price range