Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

Did you go to Open Houses, Search relentlessly on MLSLI, or use a real estate agent to take you around?

We are going to seriously start looking in the next 4-6 months.

TIA

Message edited 1/1/2007 10:18:45 PM.

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

See I did it the wrong way and we kinda fell into finding this house so you cant go by me. When you know it is right you will know. LOL

Could I be even more unspecific?

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

we met with two agents and then decided to proceed with the one we liked better. They each showed us different places.

The place that we actually found-- I found on NYTimes.com-- but we had seen another apt in the building and liked the building-- and this was a better layout, had parking, etc.

We had our agent set something up-- but in hindsight, we could have done it without her and the sellers were acting as their own agent since the wife was a rea.

I think when you look-- you should work with an agent that you TRUST-- but you also need to do homework on your own. If we didn't-- we would not have found our place!

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

we had no idea where we wanted to live - so first we looked at SDs, and on MLS -

spent lots of weekends driving in neighborhoods -

then we narrowed it down to a few towns we liked

went to open houses - had our realtor send us listings, etc.

all in all it took about 6 months to find our house - we probably went in about 15 houses and looked at a zillion online.

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We looked on MLSLI and if we liked something did a drive by - if we still liked it we called the agent and went to see it. Which is exactly how we found our house...as soon as we did the walk through we were both like - this is what we want.


Aaaaahhh...the memories of those weekends driving by house after house

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We did all of the above.

We went to open houses on our own, looked on MLSLI and went out with a realtor. We looked for about 6 months. But we weren't in a hurry. I think it is good to see what is out there. Then you can really spot a deal when you see one.

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

we used an agent in the first area we were looking in, but I found they move slow sometimes. I started using MLSLI & realtor.com & foxtons.com & FSBO.com to find new listings. Then when we changed our target area, I just drove the whole neighborhood looking for for sales signs & calling each agent to get appointments right away. We bought our house from the sellers agent(who I cannot stand but that is another story) & I'm sure we wouldn't have found the house if I hadn't been driving around. It was on MLSLI for almost 100k than what we paid....I never even searched that price range.

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

I am doimg all of the above! It is so stressfull! We have seen 35 house in person and only one sticks out in our minds!!! we are taking a second look on wednesday! Do your research!

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

You'll know, Kathleen! We visited about 40-50 homes and although each house had pluses and minuses, it's the ones that stand out to you at the end of the day of looking at 10 homes that you know you want to try to bid for. There are too many houses on the market to NOT get hung up one one house. DH and I got hung up on one, and the owner refused to budge. Then, there was the second house where we were told our starting bid was unacceptable, so we left the bargaining table, and the third house is better than any of the other houses we looked at the owner is helping us out!

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We saw at least 100 homes in person and then some others online. We finally looked in a different town and found more in our price range. We knew it when we walked in but there was another house we liked too. We had both inspected and even though they house we bought was not in as good condition as the other, we loved the charm and the location better.

We bought the house after 2 years of looking. We just kept saving our money until the right one came.

The owners did 12k of repairs for us before we closed. It was a good transaction with no problems and the sellers were so sweet. They left us a gift when we moved in.

It was scary, we had our doubts about affording it, but it all worked out. We still drive up to it and say "our house".

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We searched ourselves on MLSLI, used a RA and also went around to open houses.

Once we saw what was out there we were pretty discouraged but our RA was relentless in finding us a house.. she found our house at 2:00 in the morning searching on the internet. Once we walked in to see it the next day we knew this was the house for us

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We found it with a real estate agent. All the houses that we pulled from Newsday that she showed us were terrible. She had better listings.

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

did A LOT of searching on own (mlsli, newsday, open houses). only saw about 4 w/ the agent. found THE house on mlsli, made appt w/ realtor, saw it the next day. it had 2 offers already so we offered asking. bid was neither accepted it rejected but taken off the market because the seller didn't realize it would sell after only a few days and she needed to find another house. house went back on the market about a month later. the realtor called us and gave us first dibs. we negotiated and then received the "you gotthe house" call.

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We did it all

But we utimately found our house one Sunday driving in a neighborhood we liked, they were having an open house (FSBO)

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

First we narrowed it down to one town. I was obsessed with real estate so I was already looking at MLS every day. Then we started going to Open Houses. At one of the open houses we found a realtor we were comfortable with. She ended up giving us a 5 hour tour of our town talking about the pros and cons of each section, showing us different styles of house etc. She ended up finding our house for us. It hadnt hit MLS because the sellers agent was on vacation in Florida for the winter!

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

I would also be weary of looking for the "one." Depending on your budget, finding a home with everything you want is not likely, unless that budget is very large. So just be open to everything, but definitely don't settle.

I think the best advice in house shopping is that you can always change the house, but you can't change the location.

Message edited 1/2/2007 1:50:27 PM.

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We used a real estate agent.....but first we gave him several listings of what we liked and gave him our list of "must-haves"......He took us to many houses and as soon as we set foot in one of them, we knew it was 'the one'!!

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

Message edited 1/2/2007 2:33:43 PM.

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

we picked a few towns and started hunting. I looked on MLS and Craig's List. If I saw an open house and the house looked like it would be somewhat in my price range, we stopped and looked. I bought Newsday every weekend and read the ads and went to open houses.
It was very tiring!

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We worked with a great agent who knew exactly what we wanted, what we didn't want, our price range...etc.

She was great. It did take time, but we did find the one and we are very happy.

Good Luck. Happy House Hunting.

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We worked with a friend of mine who is an agent, first she would find listings print the information out for me, then I would weed through them and tell her the ones of interest, and then she would make appointments for us to go and see them. For about 2-3 months we looked at houses almost on a daily basis!! When we found our home I actually got this feeling and new it was the one for us!

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We had just stopped our search when we got a phone call about our house. It was ours if we wanted it and we jumped on the offer!

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

Re: Homeowners...How did you find the "one"???

We searched for about 7 months and used MLSLI, open houses, drive-by open houses, drove by neighborhoods and called agents.

We put an offer on a house and the day before the inspection, the sellers decided to refinance.

Then that same weekend we went to see a house in my parents town. The outside is not all that pretty looking but when we walked in the house and I saw the kitchen and living room, I knew it was the one. I kept whispering to DH this is the one every room we walked into! The next day we put an offer.
The house is in my old neighborhood, we are less then a mile from my parents and very close to work. Overall, we have to do small cosmetic changes and everything else can be done in time. We are just waiting to find out when our closing day will be. :D