Quicklinks:
- Step One
- Step Two
- Real Estate
Relocating
Step 3: It's time for a visit
It's expensive to make site visits, but moving is a huge endeavor and one that shouldn't be approached lightly...unless you're single and without the encumbrance of little ones. Ah, those were the days....
Step 3: Make the site visit
- Spend time everyday on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) website with your location tuned in. You'll be able to see what you can get for the money and you'll also start to see a trend of successful realtors that specialize in your area.
- Read the websites of realtors in your targeted areas.
- Pick a realtor and contact him/her via email or phone.
- Dear Mr. Realtor,
I'm considering a move to YourTown within the next six months. I have seen your website and you are obviously an experienced realtor that is familiar with the area. I plan to visit YourTown and would like to meet with you for 1/2 a day during my visit. I would like to have you show me the area and 3 or 4 homes in my price range. I want to see what the market and the community has to offer. Obviously, if I do relocate to the area, I will use your services to purchase my home.
Many Thanks,
YourName
P.S. Can you send me a map of the area and any other relocation information you have?
- Dear Mr. Realtor,
- Book your flight
- Put money aside to buy lunch for the realtor. That's all. Don't offer to pay them for their time. They'll make money if you decide to move into their area and purchase a home.
- Make sure you rent a car and drive the area, get a map (preferably from your realtor contact). Have him/her highlight the map with areas you should drive through. Do this before you hook up with them so you get a feel for the land.
- When you go out with the realtor, quiz them endlessly about the area, what they like about it, what they don't like, what the weather is really like, how the schools are, how many snakes they've seen in the past year...anything your heart desires. You now have a captive audience that knows the place -- you've hit paydirt.
- Go to the grocery store and strike up conversations with the woman in line with you. Go to the movies, preferably those with long lines and make friends with the folks in front and behind you.
- Go out to dinner. You are not to eat a single meal in your hotel room. See as much as humanly possible, talk to everyone that will give you the time of day.
That's it for now...I'll add more when time allows.
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