Homeowners: How many homes did you look at before buying?

[blackdogdeek]

perused hundreds online
visited close to a hundred
offered on about 5
went to contract on 1 then had to back out
finally bought one

the whole process took about 2 years(from starting to look to buying house)

our agent is a real saint

 

[Jadow]

I looked at like 20, got sick of the inflated prices for used houses, and decided to build a new home. Best decision I ever made.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: PanzerIV

Originally posted by: SOONER
Looked at hundreds online. about 40 in person. Gotta go online first.

Yes, I've discovered yet another useful facet of the internet. I've found many on my own that way, though usually the pictures on the 'net make them look more appealing than they are in real life.

Of all the houses i've looked at on the internet, I would say the photo misrepresents about 98% of them. I think realtors either take a photochop class or a trick photography class.

 

[Ornery]

When we were looking, interest rates were around 18%. We didn't have a house to unload, since it was our first. Quite a buyer's market, because nothing was moving at those nasty interest rates. How the hell were we to afford anything? Plenty of them on the market, but nothing affordable for us. To make it even harder, I would NOT settle for any locations outside of three that we circled on a map near where we worked, and our family's lived. All within a mile or so of freeway spurs, shopping and good schools.

We didn't saddle ourselves to one agent either. We just told the ones we ran into that we were looking for houses in those three spots. To not even bother mentioning any other homes outside those areas. You may have heard it mentioned in the Real Estate business, the three most important criteria are location, location and location! We stuck to our guns, and found a seller willing to write up a land contract for only ten percent interest.

We actually only looked at a very few houses. Not many met that strict criteria. No sense looking at anything that didn't. Twenty years, and many improvements later, the location still can't be improved upon.

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: PanzerIV

Originally posted by: SOONER
Looked at hundreds online. about 40 in person. Gotta go online first.

Yes, I've discovered yet another useful facet of the internet. I've found many on my own that way, though usually the pictures on the 'net make them look more appealing than they are in real life.

Of all the houses i've looked at on the internet, I would say the photo misrepresents about 98% of them. I think realtors either take a photochop class or a trick photography class.

No kidding about the photos not being accurate. And they are frequently missing important photos as well. Have you ever looked for rural properties? You can tell when a realtor doesn't know how to sell larger properties...all of the photos are of the house, none of the property. DUH, if someone wants to buy 10+ acres, they might have an interest in what the property looks like, not just the kitchen or foyer.