Realtor and first time buyer! some observations

I have been a full time realtor for almost 4 years now- but house hunting for myself has really opened my eyes

1. Don't go look at more then 4 houses at a time- When I am showing buyers houses I can remember every detail- but Saturday I looked at 5 for me- and I am having issues recalling the one I saw last and liked the best

2. Do a mock budget of what your expenses will be like after you close- I am going from a $1340 a month rental to a house- it's going to be a big jump with bigger utilities

3. Don't be afraid to change things if you can't find what you want- I started out looking in a completely different area and price range- but once I realized I couldn't find what I wanted I started looking for areas that I could

for example- I want a 4 bedroom colonial on a decent lot (room for a pool), not in a flood zone with a cute village

I was looking in Babylon....and I was always disappointed- I went to look at houses in Islip this weekend and found way more of what I wanted

4. Check for Flood insurance
before I go look at any houses I check floodsmart.gov- if the house is in a Moderate to High zone- I cross it off

5. Everyone is an expert once you tell them you are buying a house- they mean well but make sure you are asking you lawyer, lender and realtor the questions- (Ive had to remind a few people I do this for a living- they don't really seem to listen)

I will keep updating this post as I get further into the process!

Message edited 11/20/2013 11:55:13 AM.

Re: Realtor and first time buyer! some observations

great advise!

I would add...don't listen to negative comments from people who are not in a school district. Before picking this house I would have never chose a house in Levittown school district, but since speaking to parents IN the school district, they love it!

Realtor and first time buyer! some observations

Totally agree!!! I think w/ regards to #1, one of the biggest things that helped DH and me was that I brought printouts from MLSLI on the house (with pictures) with us and I took notes as we were walking around :
ex: nice fireplace, small closets, weird laundry room position, scary house next door w/ scary dogs (seriously the house was perfect but the house next door looked like something you'd see out of a horror film with boarded up windows, rusted cars in the yard, and dogs that wouldn't stop barking that sounded so scary). It really helped when we'd go over everything later that night or the next day.

Re: Realtor and first time buyer! some observations

This is really helpful! So interesting to see it from your perspective. Good luck on the house hunt!