Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm not a family of 4 looking for a subdivision in a good school district. I am also looking online at property 8-9 hours away.
Here is an example of a request for info and the reply
-- Giesela Requests More Information Regarding MLS# 1234567 Could you please email me information such as; 4 season liveability (plowing etc), internet access, how busy the lake is?, wildlife (not including deer), are there loons on the lake? Thank you
Hi Giesela,
Thank you for contacting me regarding my listing at xyz location. It is a beautiful setting. The cabin sits on cove with 220' of water front and on 3 acres so you don't have much traffic in front of the cabin at all. The lake does allow motors and the fishing is great.( walleye and small mouth bass) I don't know about Loons. There is year round access and the driveway is black top. The cabin does need work and the seller is in the process of getting the plumbing redone. If you would like to set up a showing please let me know.
Sincerely,
Waterfront and acreage was in the listing.
Ok, allows motors, trolling motors? Big honking water ski motors? How busy does it get, jet skis? Its lake property, all sports or not is a thing. Do I have to spell it out?
Didn't ask about fishing
Can you ask your client about the Loons?
"Year round access" covers anything from snowmobiling in to hiring someone to plow miles of road for you. How long does it take before the county gets to this location, if the county actually plows this location after a big storm? How much road do you have to hire plowed? (This is important for a very rural lake property in an area of 200" of snow a year)
Internet access? I keep running across this. its a big rural area with many places in dead zones so sometimes no hot spots. Satellite internet is really expensive and also slow and crummy. So if DSL is available tell people. Or whether its a hot spot situation or a you are out of luck situation. I have not had one realtor be able to answer the internet question. To me this is a biggie!
I included my phone number which had an area code not in that state anywhere. Granted I could have moved closer with a cell and kept the number but thats an assumption. You could also easily assume I may not be in the state.
You can type 3 paragraphs in 5 minutes. Seriously, do realtors not have 5 minutes?
I'm not a family of 4 looking for a subdivision in a good school district. I am also looking online at property 8-9 hours away.
Here is an example of a request for info and the reply
-- Giesela Requests More Information Regarding MLS# 1234567 Could you please email me information such as; 4 season liveability (plowing etc), internet access, how busy the lake is?, wildlife (not including deer), are there loons on the lake? Thank you
Hi Giesela,
Thank you for contacting me regarding my listing at xyz location. It is a beautiful setting. The cabin sits on cove with 220' of water front and on 3 acres so you don't have much traffic in front of the cabin at all. The lake does allow motors and the fishing is great.( walleye and small mouth bass) I don't know about Loons. There is year round access and the driveway is black top. The cabin does need work and the seller is in the process of getting the plumbing redone. If you would like to set up a showing please let me know.
Sincerely,
Waterfront and acreage was in the listing.
Ok, allows motors, trolling motors? Big honking water ski motors? How busy does it get, jet skis? Do I have to spell it out?
Didn't ask about fishing
Can you ask your client about the Loons?
But how much is plowing for year round access? How long does it take before the county gets to this location after a big storm? (This is important for a pretty rural lake property)
Internet access? I keep running across this. its a big rural area with many places in dead zones so no hot spots. Satellite internet is really expensive and also slow and crummy. So if DSL is available tell people! I have not had one realtor be able to answer the internet question. To me this is a biggie!
You can type 3 paragraphs in 5 minutes. Seriously, do realtors not have 5 minutes?
If you're going to request information online, then yes, you need to spell out exactly what detailed information you're looking for. The agent did answer your questions about 4 season livability and the lake just not to the depth that you wanted. And unless having/not having loons are a dealbreaker, I wouldn't insist the agent find out.
Since you're shopping from a distance, I would call agents and have a discussion about the properties that catch your interest.
See I don't call that reply about 4 season access an answer. I suppose I could word
an email: "how many feet off the nearest plowed county road is the cabin" "Who plows it" "If not the county, how much does it cost" "how much time after it snows till they get to this road". I'm not expecting that level of detail but I'm expecting more than yes there is access. There is access everywhere if you have a snowmobile. That is not an answer.
Internet is pretty important these days. How could they not answer?
See I don't call that reply about 4 season access an answer. I suppose I could word
an email: "how many feet off the nearest plowed county road is the cabin" "Who plows it" "If not the county, how much does it cost" "how much time after it snows till they get to this road". I'm not expecting that level of detail but I'm expecting more than yes there is access. There is access everywhere if you have a snowmobile. That is not an answer.
Internet is pretty important these days. How could they not answer?
And yes Loons is a deal breaker.
You need to call a realtor and talk to him/her in person.
My guess is that they get hundreds (thousands?) of emails like the one you sent, by people who are just thinking out loud and not intending much more.
See I don't call that reply about 4 season access an answer. I suppose I could word
an email: "how many feet off the nearest plowed county road is the cabin" "Who plows it" "If not the county, how much does it cost" "how much time after it snows till they get to this road". I'm not expecting that level of detail but I'm expecting more than yes there is access. There is access everywhere if you have a snowmobile. That is not an answer.
Internet is pretty important these days. How could they not answer?
And yes Loons is a deal breaker.
Yes, if that's the depth of detail you want, then you should word your email with exactly those type of questions. Afterall, it only takes a few minutes, right?
I agree that internet availability is super important but they simply could have overlooked it. Perhaps if the formatting allows, you could bullet point your questions and order them in importance to be sure they aren't overlooked.
And let them know that loons are important to you and are a dealbreaker instead of a general curiosity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Volvo Driver
My guess is that they get hundreds (thousands?) of emails like the one you sent, by people who are just thinking out loud and not intending much more.
I agree with this. With a online inquiry, you may be seen as just a looky-loo which is netting you a generic response without a lot of detail.
OP, I think a phone call would serve you better and convey you're a serious buyer. Allowing you to really dig in with your questions.
This is the busy season for many realtors. If you aren't on a particular time table, you might get more answers after June, and definitely in late fall/winter.
Having said that, are there realtors who have ads that talk about nature (or who make a point of noting it in their listing)? That might be a better choice for you, since it's a strong interest. If you really feel you have to beg for information, another (less busy) realtor might be the way to go. Someone just getting started, for example.
If there are any internet forums, neighborhood watch sites, local news sites or facebook pages for the neighborhood, they might be able to answer your questions. And, you might make some friends to hook up with after you move there.
Hm....if I talk to them and want to look at it I can still use my own representation? I really don't need a whole nother level between me and trying to get questions answered at this phase. Its easier to email. But I will call as an experiment how is that?
I suspect they are not getting hundreds or thousands of emails. This is the Upper Peninsula, not Atlanta.
Hm....if I talk to them and want to look at it I can still use my own representation? I really don't need a whole nother level between me and trying to get questions answered at this phase. Its easier to email. But I will call as an experiment how is that?
I suspect they are not getting hundreds or thousands of emails. This is the Upper Peninsula, not Atlanta.
UP Michigan?
I would actually bet that, at this time of the year, they are peaked out. I know that in Northern Minnesota (for instance) lakefront properties were a give away many years ago. Now they're million dollar properties.
Hm....if I talk to them and want to look at it I can still use my own representation?
You're going to make the agent very irritated with you if you call her with a very detailed call, have her show it to you, and then bring your own representation. You need to get the representation now and have your representation do his/her job and get your answers for you.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
