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I also wanted to add a few of the houses we looked at in some cases was the realtor not really comprehending that unless the house has a few specific must haves ( nothing out of the ordinary) I don't wanna look at them
my first house, I wasn't even looking to buy, but when some people we had just met asked us if we wanted to check out their renovation project (they buy foreclosures, and spend a year or two renovating, and flip) we loved it and put an offer on two weeks later.
My second house we relocated out-of-state. We looked at 25(ish) houses, I think. Our realtor was awesome, and very accommodating.
The more houses you look at, the more secure you feel when you see "the one".
We bought the first house we looked at once we decided to buy, but we had looked at homes and neighborhoods for years. We knew which neighborhood we wanted to live in and that houses seldom went on the market there. The house was easy to like and the neighborhood is awesome. No regrets.
Its kind of an odd question. Its like asking how many women you dated until you found "the one" Its different for everyone.
It is a common and reasonable question.
If it was really an odd question, agents wouldn't hear it so often.
People exploring the house buying process shouldn't shy away from asking sincere questions.
"The only dumb question is the one you don't ask."
I used an Exclusive Buyers Agent. She didn't try to steer me to any particular homes or areas, and of her other clients, only one was looking for anything like the same criteria as mine, so minimal conflict of interest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luvmy3dogs
In the 1 1/2 years we've been looking, we have looked at around 9-10 houses. I absolutely LOVE aerial views because before bothering my realtor I can get a lot of information on the yard and neighborhood to help me make my decision to look or not.
Aerial views are great, especially if you're reviewing listings from a thousand miles away and trying to narrow down the number of houses to see on trip.
I found Bing maps' "Birds Eye View" to be the most helpful. Sometimes if you use the "rotate left/right" button you'll get a different set of images from another year, or at least another season. e.g. Left for Winter, Right for summer
I looked at about 5 houses before putting in an offer, and closer to twenty-five before closing.
We didn't use a Buyers Agent, instead we scoured the internet for several years and did a lot of drive-bys then contacted the Listing Agent when we found something we liked. In the case of our current purchase, we had put an offer in on different house in 2012 but backed out after realizing it had many more issues than originally realized, then we found this one in 2013. So we saw two and put offers on both. I should add, in addition to the standard list (X bedrooms, Y baths, 1+ car garage, enough property for kids to run around, and good school district) we also wanted to avoid a particular house style that is very prevalent around here so the internet made it really easy to do that without involving a realtor.
For our first house we did something similar, we put an offer in on the first house we toured. That time though we were less picky as our budget was much smaller, we just wanted something that was bigger than our apartment, needed a reasonable amount of work, and had potential for resale later as we knew we probably would not stay more than 3-5 years.
By contrast, when my parents bought their house in the last 1980s I can't remember how many properties we saw, both in total and after they narrowed down what state and county they wanted to be in (all were within an hour of their work but required different realtors). Had to be at least 20 in the county they settled on. I think the internet would have made a huge difference in that as they could have seen a lot in pictures, also having had addresses they could have vetted properties better without waiting for a realtor to show them something that was inconveniently located.
Until you find the one that fits your expectations, compared to the others you've looked at. It often takes a while to size up the market you are in and to be able to communicate effectively with your agent. Experience gained in the past certainly makes one's housing search more efficient. I learned quickly that i didn't want a "unique" property.
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Best answer so far is 5.91 (FalconheadWest)
