So my husband and I are moving to Colorado! My house is on the market in Clearwater, FL (it is really cute and we have enjoyed living there!). I have it co-listed with my buddy Deborah Ward (a stupendous agent in case you need a good one in Tampa Bay...:)
Johnny will be working in Boulder, CO so we are looking in Golden, Lyons (my favorite) and Boulder. Our choices are either Old Town Longmont, CO or out in the country. We are surprised that the prices are VERY reasonable for land with a nice house (here in Pinellas County land is VERY expensive - 5 acres with no house could go for $500,000 or more!)
Realtor.com
We have set up Realtor.com searches for areas that we like and I will tell you that the enhanced listings with extra descriptions are definitely a bonus! I always preached this to my sellers when I was an active agent and now I feel even stronger about it than ever! It is hard to figure out what is great about a house from the tax records that they display, although all the photos that are available now do help.
Realtor Response
We have figured out that there is a Coldwell Banker agent that I will probably approach to work with. I sent him an email about a property and he actually answered me (that should not be a feature, but it is!) He has the most listings in one area that I am interested in so should be a good fit. That having been said, I have sent multiple requests for information with no response. I have called a couple of agents that did not return my call. It is amazing that having gone through all the trouble of getting a ready willing and able buyer to initate a request for information that agents are dropping the ball.
How I Picked A Realtor
So when I first knew that I was going to be heading out to Colorado about 6 months ago I tried to find a good MLS search. No Listingbook.com there, A REAL BUMMER! Then I tried to find a good realtor website that I could use and no one jumped out at me. Then I came over to Active Rain to find someone in the area who was blogging - nothing amazing. So I went to Realtor.com and did some saved searches. Although I am a KW agent and would always welcome working with a fellow KW-er, I need someone who is internet savvy. Someone who answers emails. Someone who calls me back. Someone with a blog or website that blows my skirt up and makes me think that they are web connected.
Realtor Followup
My mother-in-law is moving with us and she registered with a website to do an MLS search. The agent is now spamming her with all kinds of information about her (the agent). No great tips for moving to Colorado for out of town buyers, no info about the areas that Mom indicated that she was interested in, no fun places to go when we come out on scouting trips, just advertising. SIGH, they need me and my permission marketing out there bad!...:)
Anyways, I hope this helps you find some things that could help you with attracting and working with out of state buyers!
I will keep you up on how my house hunting goes, if you would like to keep up with fun places and great pictures we have made a blog (www.FlatironsFun.com) that all of us will be adding to...:)
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