Unusual method for house hunt, buying in "reverse?"

[oldtrader]

Take it from a long time investment real estate broker now retired.

Find where you would be the most comfortable living, before you look for houses. The person that buys a house without knowing if they truly like the location they live in, are usually very unhappy in the long run.

I real estate it is location, location and then location for the 3 most important factors to be happy with a home. Until you are sure of the location, don't even look at homes on the Internet. To do otherwise is almost a guarantee for disaster in the long run.

[elhelmete]

It might be helpful to share WHY you would be comfortable in any of more than a half-dozen states.

Retired?
Work from home?
etc.

It's an unusual situation that would probably get better responses if you shared the 'why.' JMHO.

[ciceropolo]

You could give a very specific set of criteria to a real estate agent and I'm sure they would be willing to do so, but it makes very little sense unless you are exceptionally wealthy and can create your own 'compound' or have very unusual specifications for your lifestyle.

Your statement that any western state would be possible seems odd as states have very different tax implications (for example Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming all have no state income tax). Generally, people who don't care about these things have so much wealth they can have their financial accountant play with the numbers for their benefit.

The reason location is generally more important to people is because of these type of variables:
type of neighbors and schools
levels of security (crime rates)
avoidance of nuisances (traffic: auto /air / train / industry)
avoiding long commutes


A few examples I can think of is when a wealthy person wants a second home, but, even they usually have environment / climate based location requirements, rather than just the built residential structure.

Another would be someone who wants an already built specific non traditional house, say, net zero energy or a sphere i.e. it's more a lifestyle / social reason.
Case Studies - Zero Energy Project
https://www.designwanted.today/archi...homes-skydome/
Monolithic Homes: New Developments | Monolithic Dome Institute


Otherwise, it is always best to field survey living in an area to experience the daily, weekly, seasonal cycles along with the types of neighbors to determine how well they may enjoy being in the neighborhood before purchasing - what is for most people - their largest fixed non liquid asset.

[Gusano]

Originally Posted by mizzile

But that's the normal way to do it. I'm talking about considering houses in several different regions based on certain preferences.

I had five different job interviews in two days, all in different cities in NC. I had the realty agency lined up in each (same agency with different offices) so that when I decided which job to accept, we could go as I had only those two days available. I don’t see why you could not do the same in various regions of the country. I had certain limitations on distance from workplace, etc., and made those known. You can detail your requirements.

Many people sell their homes and rent for a year or so in the new area prior to buying their new house. I didn’t. I bought the house the same day I interviewed. The bank wouldn’t close until after I received my first paycheck from the new job so even though they had a copy of my employment contract and I was moved into the new house, the first month was technically “rented.”

In any case, good luck with your search.