Do You Need a Realtor?

The answer is a resounding YES!

By now, hopefully, you have narrowed down some areas you would like to look at. If they are in driving distance, you would benefit greatly from spending a day there, eating out, walking around the town, going in a few shops and talking with the locals and yes, stopping in to see a realtor. They have a ton of information, not only about houses and properties for sale, but about the area, and a half hour talk with them can save you lots of time doing your own research.

If the areas you are thinking about are not within an easy distance, of course vacationing there would be the best scenario. (What fun!) But connecting online with a realtor is also a great way to get to "know" a place. Most are happy to share information with you, of course hoping you may visit and use their services, but they know people are cost conscience these days and cannot just travel all over to check out a place, and they are very willing to "talk" with you via email.

We had contacted a couple of realtors, some of whom we never met, but only wrote back and forth to online. When we finally decided to check out an area, we called an office near where we wanted to start looking, and just through luck wound up talking to the most knowledgeable and astute realtor we could have found. She listened to what we thought we wanted, then asked us a bunch of questions, on some things we had never even thought about, and narrowed down what we were really looking for.

We spent many days, and many trips to the area (which was a little over four hours from where we presently live) very happily looking at towns and properties. She didn't waste our time on places or properties that she knew wasn't in our criteria, and we were even able to email her places we saw ourselves online, and she would let us know whether they were what we had in mind or not. Even if they weren't in her area. And we went to see them all!

We expected to spend about a year looking, but don't be surprised if it takes even longer, especially if the areas are far away, and you hope to visit them on vacations. The search is part of the fun!

Till next time.