Buying A Home
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
not buying for a year, but...
it's because we really want to know what we want before we buy. We have good credit, $$ for a down payment, etc. We just have no idea what we want in a house. We have an area we want to buy in, but other than that, not a clue. Do you think getting a realtor right now is a good idea or not? We would tell him/her up front that we don't want to buy for a year or so, but would they even work with us if we did that? I don't want to insult or annoy anyone.
Also, if we decided to build (the kind where you pick your particulars from a basic plan, not from-the-ground-up building) who do I talk to? I don't know how that works either.
And finally, aside from Trulia, where else can I look for open houses in our area?
TIA 
Re: not buying for a year, but...
I would not get a realtor at this point.
What I would do is go to open houses throughout the next year so that you can start to decide what you like/don't like/want/don't want.
I agree with the previous poster. You risk insulting a Realtor and wasting their time. You also risk finding a house you really love and not being able to purchase it because of your one-year wait. Check out open houses and check to see if your area has a parade of homes that you can go to.
As for building, search for new home builders in your areas and go check out the model homes in their communities. They usually give you a lot of information and floor plans that you can compare to decide what you really want.
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Don't get a realtor now. You'd just be wasting your time and theirs. Attending open houses is the way to start at your stage.
Around us, there aren't many this time of year. April/May and into June is open house season. You can seriously just drive around my town on Sundays around mid-day in the late spring and there are open houses all over. Real estate agency websites also often list them as a search filter or just as a list of dates/addresses.
You are not ready for a realtor. Agree w/pp, go to open houses so you can get an idea of what you like and don't like. You can also go see model homes at new home sites. Once you finally do have an idea of what you want and timeframe, then certainly get a REA. GL
BTW, when you go to open houses you will meet REA, which is a good way to get a feel for an agent by talking with them and seeing if they mesh with you.
I agree that it is too early for an agent but a good time to start looking online or go to open houses. Around here, the open houses have really picked up with the new year so we don't even have to wait for April. But then, we are in a snow-free area.
If it covers your region, check out "redfin.com". Another nestie recommended it to me and I find it super helpful.
no realtor yet.
In addition to your downpayment, make sure you have an emergency fund in place (6 months expenses), moving expenses, repair/renovations, start up costs, decorating costs saved.
Pay off debt - credit cards especially
Attend open houses to see homes with different layouts. Check your local MLS listings. (www.Realtor.com)
I am a realtor and I say get a Realtor now! ?I have many clients that I have talked to for a year or more. ?I definitely do not actively take them out looking, but it is great for them to have someone to direct all their questions too. ?Also it is a great way to get to know each other and gain each others trust. ?It takes no time at all to answer my new clients questions. ?They can set you up on a search and keep the pressure off until you are ready. I work with a ton of first time home buyers and many of them take their time. ?It is totally understandable & any good agent will respect this. ?Just make sure you stick with them if they stick with you!?
?If you want I have a huge referral network...I can be in touch with someone in your area and break the ice for you. ?That way you will be assured to get a great agent who you can trust. ??
This borders on solicitation which is not allowed on the Nest. I know you mean well.
"This borders on solicitation which is not allowed on the Nest.? I know you mean well."?
?
?Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt. ?I just had to explain on another post that referrals on here would not be "paying referrals" since I would not be contacting the realtor only giving out the realtors info. ?But I will ?DEFINITELY NOT offer that anymore. ?I can't give a referral with just a screen name, you actually have to know the people....and fill out a formal form with everyone's signatures and stuff. ?But again thanks for the heads up and for being nice! ?I am a new home owner myself and just came on here for decorating advice! ? ?
Go drive around neighborhoods and see if you could picture yourself there. Think about your commute and your feelings on that (I refuse to commute more than 20 min, he felt the same way. Some people don't mind an hour each way for their dream house)
Think about area amenities and how close you want to be to them. Think about whether you could deal with a fixer-upper, or how much cash you would have to do repairs.
Go looks at tons and tons of houses on realtor.com, but realize that pictures lie. Find some you like and go drive by them- that's really important. Just shopping realtor.com, I thought I could get a lovely 1900-1920s era 3-bed, 1.5 bath for under $150,000 in our area. Then I went and drove by some of those houses, and realized they all had something fatally wrong with them- one was next to a scary apartment complex, one was in a flood plain, one was surrounded by a commercial building on 2 sides and had no backyard.
I wasn't in your situation so I couldn't tell you to get a realtor or not, but definitely do your homework first and you will be saving yourself and your realtor a lot of wasted time when you do start looking.