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.
Newbie to the board with questions!
Good morning ladies!
MH (M) and I are meeting with a realtor this coming week to start the house-hunting process. I'm very excited but also a little nervous as this will be our first home. We are hoping to move in the end of August when our lease is up, but M will be gone for 3 weeks this summer, so we're starting the process now.
Our realtor comes very highly recommended by 3 people we know who have used her, 2 of whom did so in the last year. One built and one bought an existing home.
So, here's my question. What questions should we have for the realtor when we meet with her? I know she'll have lots of questions for us (regarding what we're looking for and how much we can spend), but what do we need to know from her?
TIA! I look forward to coming to this board more often as we go through this process!
Re: Newbie to the board with questions!
I'm not sure if you're asking what sort of "interview" questions to ask before committing to her or what questions you should ask about the process.
If you're wanting to interview her, I think you first have to figure out what you expect in an agent and find the questions that will reveal if she's a good fit. What hours does she typically answer the phone until, what is her preferred method of communication with her clients, is she okay with scheduling last minute showings if something you're interested in comes on the market (this is my list, but it really depends on you).
In either scenario:
I would also bring up your H's absence this summer and ask if she thinks there will be an issue. There is lots of signing to do during the process and sometimes it's pretty time sensitive. It'll be important for her to know when he's not around.
If you haven't done it already, make your list of must haves / nice to haves and go over it with her. I would ask her if she thinks that's realistic with the budget you have in mind.
I would also ask her about the market you're looking in and if it's more of a buyers market or a sellers market. Ask her if she thinks based on your must have / nice to have list if you'll need to act quickly or if it will be an easier search process. (I suggest this topic specifically because H and I thought that all of the housing market was a buyers market, and that's not the case in many places. I wish I had known how cut throat it was going to be ahead of time.)
This board is great and I think the ladies on here run the gamut in terms of experiences and it's nice to be able to come here for advice during such a crazy process. Good luck!
Surprisingly, we already have most of this covered lol. It's some of the few things we already know. I work for a bank that gives better rates to their employees, plus employees have no closing costs from our bank. We have shopped around just in case, but found my bank has the best offer currently and with the added bonuses I get for being an employee, it just makes sense.
As far as the other things you mentioned, we are prepared for that conversation. We've been kind of looking on our own for a couple months, but also M is a teacher and we want to stay in his district (we rent in the district now) so that our kids will attend those schools someday. Plus, it makes sense to live closer to his work since he has more unpredictable and longer hours than I do. I miss all the traffic during my commute times, where as if we lived closer to my work, he would have a nightmare of a commute.
Thanks for the reminder to discuss these with her though!