Cross country move real estate agent

pete6032

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2010
7,442
3,004
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Has anyone moved cross country before and used a real estate agent to find a place in your new location? How did you find your agent? There seem to be countless options and I won't be able to make it to my destination to meet the agent in person for a couple months but I want to start looking now.
 

deadlyapp

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2004
6,582
698
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I did, but I can't remember how we found her, I think it may have been a friend of a friend who had come from the area we were moving to. We were looking for rentals and while she tried, she did a piss poor job of actually following our filters and we ended up finding most of the places that we ended up looking at, and ultimately the house we found we did outside of her.

I would say the best thing to do is see if anyone in your extended network has used a realtor in that area. Second best is to look on a real estate website for realtors or brokers that handle high volume, since they may get access to things coming on the market before they are listed.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
62,678
11,016
136
We always looked on Zillow, redfin, Trulia, and realtor.com, along with the websites of some of the local realtors we found during the search. (<insert your future location> real estate in a google search...find realtors) Then, see which ones have the bestoat listings, go from there.
 
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Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
11,567
2,625
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I would expect it to be a total crapshoot with the very likely scenario whoever you pick will fleece you.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,054
12,238
136
No, I moved out here and rented a hotel for a week until I found a rental via the usual channels, and started shopping for a home to buy when I had a few months left on my lease. I had everything I didn't bring with me in a moving pod.
 
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NuclearNed

Raconteur
May 18, 2001
7,831
295
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We didn't move - but we did recently buy real estate in Idaho all the way from Tennessee. We researched real estate agencies, picked one based on reviews, then emailed them... the agent who contacted us then got our business.
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
21,959
4,683
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No, I moved out here and rented a hotel for a week until I found a rental via the usual channels, and started shopping for a home to buy when I had a few months left on my lease. I had everything I didn't bring with me in a moving pod.
That seems to be the best formula. It is hard to know where exactly you will be happy with. Best to get out there and check out the communities etc.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,456
854
126
My wife is a realtor in north county San Diego. Not sure where you are looking but if it is out of her area she could refer you to someone. Prices are sky high here right now though and inventory is low.