Working with a Realitor

[KDJM]

i also learned that georgia is a buyer beware state... that doesnt make me warm and fuzzy inside.

[NocturneSiren]

Don't know if this is already known, but it has some useful information in it. Augusta, GA area.

http://www.augustahomestore.com/Nav....geID%3d2073075

[KDJM]

thanks jenn we are actually using this site as well.

[jlbecker]

we just bought a house. we had a lot of fun & it wasn't very stressful because we were focussed on exactly what we wanted. some of the things we found helpful were:

how long has the realtor worked/lived in the area you want to live? you want one who knows the neighborhoods well.

when we searched online, we found many of the houses to be a bit deceiving. it was more helpful for us to drive around the neighborhoods we liked and look for For Sale signs. since the market is crazy right now, we found many houses by driving through.

but the internet was a great tool to do research on crime & schools.

you want a realtor who will be readily available & willing to work off hours to accomodate your schedule. if you call a realtor and he/she isn't returning calls or can't make appointments until a few weeks, that's not a good sign.

good luck with your search!! it's ok to use a few realtors until you feel comfortable with one. i found some realtors did not take me seriously as a woman buying a house. i was very put off by some. the assumed i had no down payment and knew nothing about mortgages. very frustrating. sorry....ranting....anyway, good luck and have fun!!

[KDJM]

yeah i completely understand that. my dh has a friend who is AD and a realitor part time. she has had contact with him and not me. he is deployed so i am the one who she really needs to contact. he doesnt understand my frustration. he contaced another realitor, she is quite efficient so far. we will see.

[KDJM]

we have decided to get a house built any advice on what to ask the developers?

[gunsgirl]

if you are looking at biulding- first and fore most compare exsisting home prices with the construction-

also compare the intitial out of pocket new construction costs.

will you need to pay for a fence? SOD? land scaping? do you want a screened porch ( bugs are bad here in GA) do you need a shed for equipment storage?
are you looking at buying the BASIC spec home or are you looking at up grades?

factor ALL these in before deciding on new construction:

we bought new in 07 and have put 12,000 into the house so far- fence, sod, upgraded appliances, land scaping including lighting, screened porch.

we bought ours with a few upgrades in it- and right now ( we are very lucky) our home we paid 189,900 for you can get new for 187,500. it has only dropped 2 thousand in 18 months. BUT to sell our home we would only get 187-190,000 even tho we have put so much into it.

if you are not looking at being in the home for 3 yrs- I suggest you seriously look at the market before deciding to buy.

( we are in our forever home and getting ready to retire)