Question about Realtors (Houston, Sugar Land, Cinco Ranch: rental, how much, house)

[Nugget_Brain]

As mentioned in a few other posts, my husband and I are going to attempt to get jobs and move to Houston this winter. We are coming during July to check out the area and make sure we can handle the heat. Since we don't have jobs there yet, we obviously don't know where we will need to live.

We are not yet home owners, so we've never worked with a Realtor. I do know that here, one can and does service the entire city. Is it the same there? Or do they tend to stick to their area of town?

Basically, we're assuming there's going to be a quick turn around from when we get a job to when we need to start. We'll need to rely on a Realtor to find a rental house for us. We'd like to meet with someone when we come to visit. Is this something that can be done? Or do we need to think of another strategy?

[texas7]

As others will tell you, probably best to secure a job BEFORE you make the move. Jobs aren't as easy to come by as the media would lead you to believe. Then once you secure your job, you work with a realtor who is officed in the area of town in which you want to look for homes. Realtors can take you anywhere you want to look but my preference is to get one who is very familiar and officed in the area I am looking at.

[Nugget_Brain]

Originally Posted by Nugget_Brain

As mentioned in a few other posts, my husband and I are going to attempt to get jobs and move to Houston this winter.

Hence this was the very first line of my post...

[texas7]

and that is why I said then you would better know what side of town you want to live in. Houston is very large and realtors can service the entire city - but I would think you would want one who deals with whatever area you are looking in on a daily basis so you get the most info that you can.

[Nugget_Brain]

Our thinking is that it would be beneficial to begin a relationship with one soon rather than calling one up out of the blue and saying 'hey, I need you to find me a house...in 2 days. Thanks! See you soon!'

[texas7]

Perhaps so - guess from reading the forums are there any areas you are interested in already? If so, find a realtor who specializes there? Do you want to be in town or in the suburbs? How much of a commute are you willing to make?

[Nugget_Brain]

Well, we'd be your typical annoying suburban family. We like the looks of Woodlands, Cinco Ranch, Sugar Land. I haven't even really been able to figure out what we'd like in the South East or East Houston. Basically, I see a neighborhood mentioned here and then I go research it.

I currently commute about 45 minutes, so I'd go up to an hour. Sitting in my car really doesn't bother me. My husband on the other hand...he currently has about an 8 minute commute. I'm not sure what his reaction will be to it.

One thing in our favor, we don't have kids and we're not buying yet. So we're not tied to any school district yet. We just need a yard for a big dog and a garage for my husband to play with his cars.

[Nugget_Brain]

Also, my husband will be looking for a Physics/Engineering job. So I would hope that would put us in the EC, up by the new Exxon campus or somewhere near NASA. His job will be the important one, so I certainly don't want to cater to my jobs location.

[Glossa]

Originally Posted by Nugget_Brain

Sitting in my car really doesn't bother me. My husband on the other hand...he currently has about an 8 minute commute. I'm not sure what his reaction will be to it.

Yes, but it bothers US. You "sitting in your car" adds to OUR already horrible traffic and makes OUR commute even worse. PLEASE find a job first, then work near your job.

[Nugget_Brain]

PLEASE read where I've said THREE TIMES that we will find a job first.