So far we have examined some of the emotional and psychological issues associated with a relocation (Relocation is NOT for Dummies Part 1), and a few practical issues you must consider when selling your home (Relocation is NOT for Dummies Part 2).

Here in Part 3 the focus is on house hunting from a distance and how to make the most of buying your new home in a distant location. You can’t drive around neighborhoods to look at housing, and you may not know much, if anything, about your new location. In a relocation:

How do you go about house hunting effectively?  

And how do you find someone you can trust to help you?

Let’s deal first with how to go about finding a reputable, knowledgeable REALTOR in your new location, say Carlsbad, California, to help you with your relocation. Finding the right REALTOR to help in your relocation is so critical. After all, you don’t know the area or the market. So, what do you want to know about your agent?  And unless you have a terrific referral, how do you find your agent on-line?

An important part of the house hunting depends on you – what you are looking for, your research, and of course spending time on-line looking at the market in the new area. House hunting from a distance is a challenge, even if you are relatively familiar with the community you plan to move to.

Many folks who relocate take time for at least one house hunting trip to the new community so they can look at homes in person. So you want to make the most of your house hunting trip – it may only be a few days, and time is precious. You can read more about house hunting trips here.

Are you on the hunt for a luxury property in Carlsbad? You will learn a lot from this short series of articles. Or perhaps you are considering an age-restricted community. Some folks are interested in buying short sales and foreclosures, which are increasingly common in some areas, including Carlsbad (although there are nearby communities with many more of these distress sales).

I hope this helps you on your way to finding a new home in a great location. We’ll talk about the move itself next.

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All content copyright © 2007 Jeff Dowler Carlsbad Homes and Real Estate Tidbits