Upstate NY Nesties
Dear Community,
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.
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.
Starting to house hunt!
DH and I went to a first-time homebuyers workshop last night and learned a lot. Enough that we feel ready to actually start house hunting! We are both really excited, but also a little nervous. Do any of you have some words of wisdom for us? Also, for those of you that live in the capital region, do you have any recommendations for people to work with?
Thanks!
Re: Starting to house hunt!
Words of wisdom:
Make a list of "must haves" and "would be nice to haves". One of my DH's "must haves" was a basement, however, he really wanted a basement for a seperate TV area--we ended up in a house w/o a basement, but w/ a LR and a FR. Moral of the story, know where you can compromise and where you can't
Overlook hideous decor and focus on layout and the general "feel" of the home.
Realtor recommendation:
Hands down, Mary Kearney from Realty USA. I used her, nikinikinine used her and so did LadyRed. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that she rocked!
Contact Info
good luck!
I would highly recommend our realtor as well - Merna at Tech Valley Homes.
I agree about overlooking the ugly decor and such. If you could have seen our house when we looked at it it was disgusting! DH and I knew to look beyond it and that with a some work - most not too hard - we would have a great looking house. I hate watching house hunting shows where the potential buyers are so stuck on the current owners belongings - they go with them.
Not sure exactly where you are looking, but there is a nice house that was just purchased and flipped on our street. I looked at it online and they did a really nice job to it. It is listed with Remax and is on Crescent Drive in Albany. Just thought I'd throw that out!
It's about 2.5 miles down from Albany Med.
Ditto pps..
Make a list of need vs. want. Figure out what school district you want if that is important, size of the lot you want (like minimum), etc.
We really narrowed things down with our list - didn't want a corner lot, wanted a specific school district and area, had to have 4 bdrms, no pool.. it really narrowed it down right there!
We worked with a family friend, so I don't have any recommendations there. But realtors can really do specific searches on the MLS, like age of the house and stuff, so that helps.
Also, I actually found our house because I searched really hard, and we bought "on the bubble" so it was tough to find stuff. I would go on to the Times Union every morning and check new listings. We were the first viewing on our house and we got it.
Oh and we went to dozens of open houses.. go to as many as you can. Then you get an idea of what you get for your money, what is available, and what you like or don't like. Once you start walking through homes, it helps you get a feel for what you are looking for, plus you don't need a realtor to go to open houses, just start going on Sundays.
Nest Bio ~ ~ Baby Food Blog
I don't have a lot of advice to add that hasn't been said by pps... Def. make a list of "musts" and "might be nices." I also wanted to add that we also worked with Mary Kearney and we love her!
Before you look at houses, get pre-approved for a mortgage, and discuss realistically what you can afford to pay. That way you wont fall in love with something that ends up being out of your price range.
Do you have a particular town/neighborhood in mind? Its a good idea to research quality of schools and crime statistics for your target areas.