Finding the right Real Estate Agent for Relocation

[back2jersey]

Originally Posted by Ellwood

I would find another agent. We bought out of state and chose houses over the internet we were interested in and contacted an agent to show the houses. The first agent sounds like this agent, so we found another one. My suggestion would be to contact the agents via phone and interview them until you find one who is customer oriented. The agent you are using sounds like selling real estate is a hobby.

Good luck!

That's what I have done - I used Realtor.com to try to find houses then called. That's how I found this agent. She sounded customer oriented on the phone until I acutally arrived in NJ and was ready to go see the houses. I'm glad I went with the new agent on Saturday. She's the kind of agent that I had expected - professional, knoweldgeable and willing to show me a lot of houses. And she seems to listen to me when I talk about what I want and don't want which is important. Now that hard part is finding the house that is for me.

[back2jersey]

Originally Posted by BrianG

I would find another agent. Max of 4 houses a day (I wish that was all it took)
I have an home inspection at 9am and then will be showing houses from 11:30 to 3:30
(have 5 set up and am working on a few more) The only reason i am stopping at 3:30 is because this client has work at 4pm...I will be showing houses tonight from 5 till 8 (so far we have 6 to see)
You should call another agency to see if they could show you around and if you are still in jersey on sunday, Check the newspaper for any open houses in the area you are looking in... You do not have sign anything with anybody until you find something you like
And be careful of the ones that are only showing you their office's listings
Good luck and don't hold the few (not so nice agents) against the rest of us
Most of us work hard and go out of our way for our clients

What you just described is exactly what I thought it would be like with this agent - busy, showing me a lot of houses, etc. That's how it's always been with any real estate agents that I know where I live now. And that's why this threw me. I won't sign anything until I find something I like. I just hope I find something I like soon.

[back2jersey]

Originally Posted by tiggywink

You need to find another agent. We were moving from London England to NJ and were flying in to see houses--our agent remained in contact with us via email and telephone calls and was available every single day we were here should we have needed her. After we moved, we were still 45 minutes-1 hour away from her and she was available to show us whatever we wanted practically whenever we wanted--for as long as it took. We told her up front the type of service we would be needing and she said it wouldn't be any problem. She was wonderful from start to finish. I also want to add that she was the 5th agent we met, and the one we stayed with. We didn't feel like we'd get the same attention with any of the others.

Exactly. That's how this new agent seems to be. She told me basically the same thing. She can make referrals for me if need it (i.e. handyman, etc.). And while she was showing me the houses, she would point things out while we were driving around like how far away things were - food stores, short cuts to highways, etc. We had a winter storm here today so we couldn't really look but she's got a bunch lined up for tomorrow to look at. I will be heading back soon and if I don't find anything this time, I'll have to fly back and arrange to do the same thing you did. Where I live now, we have a lot of people relocating to there and that's the agents there do. THey make themselves completely available for their out of state clients looking to relocate. Now the hard part is finding something I like.

[tiggywink]

glad to hear you had a better experience with the new agent!! We looked at over 50 houses before we bought the one we are living in now. It was at times very discouraging, but it was a valuable experience. By the time we got to this house, we had refined our wish list and had a more critical eye to things--and also were more open-minded about certain things as well. We also were able to spot a "good deal" based on the other houses we had seen. We probably might not have bought this house if it was one of the first we had seen.

Our initial reaction to this house would have been "too small, too expensive". After all of those months of house-hunting we were able to see "we don't have to spend a penny here, high-end finish, everything is newly renovated", and realized that the less expensive houses would have ended up costing more in the long run to get to this standard, and we would have had to pay much higher taxes year after year in a larger house.

Good luck to you--although I didn't believe it when people told me that we would "know" when we found the right house, that is exactly how it happened. Everything fell into place almost instantly--we made an offer soon after attending an open house, our agent was on vacation in another state at the time and hadn't actually seen the house herself yet!

[Ellwood]

Originally Posted by back2jersey

That's what I have done - I used Realtor.com to try to find houses then called. That's how I found this agent. She sounded customer oriented on the phone until I acutally arrived in NJ and was ready to go see the houses. I'm glad I went with the new agent on Saturday. She's the kind of agent that I had expected - professional, knoweldgeable and willing to show me a lot of houses. And she seems to listen to me when I talk about what I want and don't want which is important. Now that hard part is finding the house that is for me.

Out of curiosity, what areas in Jersey are you looking at?

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by back2jersey

I told her I wanted to expand my search into Sussex and Warren but I'm not getting that. I haven't signed anything with her or the other agent she works with so I guess I can easily cancel out of this with her but then I won't be looking at houses tomorrow and that's what I came here for this weekend. No point in looking at houses I'm not too interested in though. Has anybody else had this kind of experience with real estate agents? Is this typical here? She seems so independent - she makes plans to show me houses then she cancels those plans, she sends me listings then when I want to see them she tells me I may be wasting my time, etc. I need a different agent that will work for me but how do avoid something like this happening again. I really want to look this weekend while I'm here.

The agent I had was great.. I would save my favorites on the Remax site. What I liked about Remax, I could make different folders, by town if I want to. I also had a folder for appointments and would throw about 10 or so houses in it, then email her, saying to look in the folder & set it up.

Most houses you can get right in, but there are a few that want 24 to 48 hours. Out of 40+ houses, we couldn't get into 2 or 3. You also need to think about asking if any houses are for certain times; when we show our house they give us a 2 hour window. With one house we were going to view, unknown to me, we had a set time and the seller left (no lockbox) because we were a few minutes late. Had my agent told me we had a set appointment I would have called her ahead of time when my daughters school called, had to drop something off, or I wouldn't have stopped at the school.

Originally Posted by back2jersey

Thanks for the links. I will check them tonight. The idea about 2 agents is good. This new agent I found has been very helpful about the area she's from. She seems to know Sussex quite well and has been pointing things out to me that I might like and that I might not like about certain areas. I find that helpful. I just didn't expect it to be this discouraging. I thought I would find several that I liked right away but I haven't found a one yet that has really been for me.

I have another link for you although this is more for people selling.. agent questions for sellers. You very well can change some of them to specific things you need when buying. After the last incident, you want someone that is full time.

I've been looking for a house since February. I can't tell you the number of houses that were over priced, ones that got top $$ and had faux brick with paneling. If they were only priced right...

We ended up expanding our search to Camden & Glouster county, ended up with a new home in Williamstown for under $400k. The floor plan is what we liked / need and we got a great deal. We liked this place because of lot size, houses weren't shoved in together.

Try going to yahoo, see if you can get a few agents to give you their profile. I interviewed one agent from there, she was top notch and if she wasn't too far I would have gone with her. Very helpful to read reviews.

What type of house are you looking for and in what price range (if you don't mind sharing). Our original was a 3 or 4 bedroom rancher with the master away from the other rooms, full basement & walk up attic.. actually my dad's house but family wouldn't sell to us. Since I helped him pick the house when he built, it was something we'd like, wasn't meant to be and there isn't another around in 3 or 4 counties

Originally Posted by back2jersey

Exactly. That's how this new agent seems to be. She told me basically the same thing. She can make referrals for me if need it (i.e. handyman, etc.). And while she was showing me the houses, she would point things out while we were driving around like how far away things were - food stores, short cuts to highways, etc. We had a winter storm here today so we couldn't really look but she's got a bunch lined up for tomorrow to look at. I will be heading back soon and if I don't find anything this time, I'll have to fly back and arrange to do the same thing you did. Where I live now, we have a lot of people relocating to there and that's the agents there do. THey make themselves completely available for their out of state clients looking to relocate. Now the hard part is finding something I like.

Sounds like you got a good one, which is what you want.

If you can post the exact locations you are looking, we may be able to recommend someone. I know of an agent in the Westfiled area that is very good. I used to know a lot of agents in the Watchung area and know of one in the town of Union.

[Roselvr]

BTW.. after thought.

We ended up in a community called Willow Woods. (http://www.richmondamerican.com/Shop+and+Buy/View+Community.htm?mr=Southern%20New%20Jersey&Type =Community&cm=948&ID=948 - broken link) The model we bought was the Amherst (http://www.richmondamerican.com/Shop+and+Buy/Home+Detail.htm?mr=Southern%20New%20Jersey&li=1185 8&cm=948 - broken link). It has 4 bedrooms upstairs with a laundry room on the 2nd floor. The master has a large bathroom, toilet behind a door. It also has a sitting area.

You might try looking at some of the builders online to see if you can find a floorplan you like, which might be helpful to the agent. This will allow them to look at houses for you so that you don't waste time on your next trip if you do not find something this time.

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