With my company’s website having such a large intenet presense, I am frequently contacted by people who are looking to relocate to the Charlotte region. They typically find our site after “googling” certain terms such as “houses in charlotte” or “charlotte, nc real estate”, etc. The interesting thing is how many different approaches I see people taking. With some, it’s clear that they’ve relocated to a different city before and this is nothng really new to them. With others, you can tell that they could use a helping hand and are feeling a little lost. That is mainly who this particular post is geared towards.

There is nothing wrong with surfing the web and trying to learn about different areas on your own, browsing for homes for sale, studying school test scores, etc. However, at some point you’ll need to contact a Realtor. I suggest that you do that FIRST or at least very early on in the process. Once you find a good Realtor that you feel comfortable with, you instantly have that one extra support system that is most certainly needed during this process. It can also save you a lot of time. Testimonials can often be a good indicator but so can simply speaking with them on the phone and getting a feel for how receptive they are and how well they answer your questions.

An experienced Realtor will ask you lots of questions about your needs, your lifestyle, what’s best for your kids, desired proximity to work, etc and help explain why some areas might work better than others for you. They’ll help you narrow down the scope of your search and make it feel a little less overwhelming. They’ll also have trusted and reliable contacts available to you, such as a mortgage broker or banker that you’ll need for obtaining financing.

1) Find a Realtor
2) Find area(s)
3) Find a home

Quite often, folks will go about it the opposite way. By the time they finally email or call me about a particular “dream home” that they’ve spotted on the MLS, I’m left to explain to them why it is priced so low and appears to be such a great deal. Or, the fact that it’s an hour from where they’ll be working, in a high crime area, lesser quality schools, etc.

Get your Realtor on board with you from the beginning and allow them to do what years of training has equipped them for…taking care of your best interests. We’re here to help you, not pressure you

Tags: buying