Learn how to survey the housing market, locate promising homes for sale, and decide what you really want in a house.
It's a good idea to start your home-search process on your own, particularly if you haven't yet chosen an agent. Just going to open houses for a week or two or surfing the Internet will help you get a sense of the local market. (Around one fourth of all 2005 home buyers first spotted their home on the Internet!) Such research can also refine your sense of how much house you can afford, potentially expand your horizons regarding livable neighborhoods, and wise you up to what all the advertising hype really means -- or disguises.
How to Access Listings of Houses for Sale
Somewhere out there is a seller who wants to sell his or her home as badly as you want to buy one. This means you can count on homes being advertised in at least a few places. Here are the best ways to look for up-to-date information on homes for sale:
- Read the local newspaper, especially the Sunday edition. Check the classified sections of various newspapers. If you're focused on a particular neighborhood, find out whether that neighborhood has a community newspaper with real estate listings. Many newspapers also post their classified sections online.
- Drive through the neighborhoods that interest you. You may spot "For Sale" signs of homes whose listings you overlooked. You may see "FSBOs" -- that is, homes for sale by owner, without the help of a real estate agent. FSBOs are not always advertised widely. Another way to make sure you don't miss any FSBOs is to check websites dedicated to them, such as http://www.owners.com.
- Use the Internet. The vast majority of home buyers now use the Web as part of their search. Many websites draw from the same resource, namely a database of home listings known as the multiple listing service (MLS). Each site's presentation and ease of use is different though, so you'll want to check around for the site you like best. On most sites you can search home listings based on criteria such as location, price, and number of rooms.
Popular national websites include the National Association of Realtors' site at http://www.realtor.com and a site run by a network of realtors called http://www.homes.com. If you find the national websites slow, search for a site run by the realtors' association in your home state or region.
Another option is to check the websites of major real estate companies such as Re/Max, Coldwell Banker, and Prudential. Although they may have fewer listings (sometimes only those listings held by their own company), they may do a more thorough job of describing the house, complete with exterior and interior photos.
If you're looking for a newly built home, check out http://www.homebuilder.com, http://www.newhomesource.com, or http://www.americanhomeguides.com.
When you see a home that interests you, either make an appointment to see it or check whether an open house has been scheduled.
Decide What You Want Most in a House
After you've begun surveying the territory, and perhaps experienced a reality check regarding what you can afford, create your personalized "ideal house profile." Simply write down possible home features according to three categories:
- Features that you can't live without, such as a good school district, no difficult stairs to climb, or space to grow vegetables.
- Features that you hope for in a house, but that aren't crucial to your decision, such as a fireplace, a separate laundry room, and walking distance to a coffee shop.
- Features that are "absolute no ways," meaning that you know you'll forever be sorry if you buy a house that has them. These tend to be location problems (which can't be fixed), such as location at the top of a hill, in a flood zone, in a lousy school district, or in a high-crime or noise area.
Carry your ideal house profile with you whenever you visit a house. To be even more organized, turn your profile into a checklist of the three categories of features, and fill one out every time you visit a house. For a preprinted house profile and checklist, see Nolo's eFormKit Find and Finance Your Dream House or, if you're buying in the golden state, Nolo's How to Buy a House in California, by Ralph Warner, Ira Serkes, and George Devine.
Working With an Agent
Having taken these preliminary steps, you'll find that, if and when you do hire an agent, you'll be able to focus his or her energies on the most productive, final phases of your home search. You may also find that, even after hiring an agent, you prefer to visit some homes on your own, for convenience or even to escape the agent's influence.
