All Entries For Homebuyer Adventures
Well, it has been a few weeks since I’ve given a househunting update. Weekly, I have been going out with our realtor, Bruce, looking for the perfect home. I have found that I am not going to get everything that I want, in the area that I want, at a price I can afford. I am not willing to go any further out of the city than Cobb County (and even some parts of Cobb are too far). I think that it is common for first time homebuyers to have high expectations, and then be a bit disappointed.
Well, here’ s a new one for me (and I apologize if it seems a bit of a vent–I have a lot of realtor friends).
As I’ve mentioned before, my husband and I have been using local search engines to look for a home (AJC.com, Craigslist.com, etc). Well, yesterday we came across a house that is in the area we want and in our price point. There weren’t a lot of photos, so we just emailed the contact directly to see if there were more photos, before we even mentioned it to our agent, Bruce.
A few emails were exchanged between Kevin and the homeowner, and we decided to go check the house out this weekend. I told Kevin to make sure to mention we have an agent, and I forwarded the information on to Bruce. Bruce then contacts the homeowner, to put it out there that he was our buyer’s agent, and to make sure they are paying a commission. As you know, Bruce has been driving us around, doing research and calling and emailing with me on a daily basis. He will also handle the negotiation of the contract, as well as help me with the house inspection. Read More→
The Worst House of the Day
I have always loved to shop. And I’ve been involved in real estate for 10 years, which I have also loved. But, I must admit, shopping in 100 degree weather for a home on Saturday was not the most fun.
I don’t know why I thought the shopping part would be easy. It takes me a while to find the perfect shoes, and sometimes I only wear those once. This is going to be the home we will live in for at least the next 5 years. I want it to be the perfect house, and I still haven’t found it.
This time Kevin, my husband, was able to go looking with Bruce and me. We started in Smyrna, and although I liked 2 of the 3 homes we looked at, there were a little more than I wanted to spend, and one didn’t have the best yard, and the other had the laundry in the basement. Can you imagine hauling laundry up and down 2 flights of stairs? Read More→
I must say, my first day driving around looking at houses was not very promising. We did not find “The One.” And I know that I should not expect to find the perfect home the first day I went out looking, but I didn’t even find one that I would consider. I hope we have better luck this weekend.
When my agent, Bruce, picked me we had a list of 8 homes around East Cobb to visit. Within the first hour of us driving around, we got word that 3 of those had gone under contract (good news for the economy, bad news for my house hunt). The first house was a great floorplan, but not enough of a backyard for us. Also, the houses were very close together. The next few houses we looked at all at their pluses, Read More→
If you have been following my house hunting journey, you know that I have already decided to buy in Cobb County. Last week, I received an email listing the top 50 schools in Georgia, and where they rank nationally. Newsweek just ranked the top 1,000 schools in the country, and I spent some time looking over this list to see if any of the areas I am looking are included.
This helped me to further narrow down the areas I would like to buy. I am not saying that I am not open to other schools, but buying in one of the top school districts will help me resell my house if I choose, or it will be nice to know that my future children are receiving a good education. For now, I am looking in Walton, Campbell and Lassiter high school districts.
Also for me to remember is that these lists change yearly. Who is on top today, may not be next year. Luckily, Cobb County as a whole has a great school district (I know first hand, as a graduate from Walton High myself). I think that if I buy in any Cobb district included on the list, I am buying wisely.
Now that I know what part of town I want to live in and my price range, it’s time to start house hunting. I know that my realtor is searching for homes for me, but Kevin & I are excited and have also been looking on our own. Here are a few of my favorite sites that I have come across while searching:
www.MorrisAndRaper.com
www.realtor.com
www.AtlantaNewHomesDirectory.com
www.AJCHomefinder.com
www.LivingChoices.com
www.Trulia.com
www.CraigsList.com
