So, looking for a new house. Where do I begin?

[IIOY]

Long story short, I love where we live, but for reasons not important for purposes of this thread, we may be interested in moving to a different house within the same general area.  Searching on Zillow is overwhelming.  Is step one to call a REA to help with a search? To get an evaluation of our house?  Both?  How do I ensure I am getting an experienced/quality REA?  I need a step one primer because it's been ages since I've had to do this.  Thank you!

[prazenjc]

if any online search service (zillow, realtor.com, trulia, etc.), overwhelms you, then you should interview 3+ REA's, share with them what you are looking for and see who you connect with the most, makes you feel the most confident in their experience and the support they have within their company (presuming they aren't a solo agent).

i'm sure there are some guidances you could get from ehow.com and ask.com on how to approach this sort of thing, too. they are fairly canned sites for asking generic questions like this. this board is great, too, though because the gals mostly recognize that some things vary from region to region and mention where that applies. several are either looking for a new home now, too, or are REA's themselves. TONS of experience.

[kaylie]

Do you have any friends who have recently bought or sold houses? I would try to get a referral from someone and go from there. I would specifically seek out a REA who is familiar with your area, since real estate norms can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. It would probably be good to start a "must haves" and "nice to haves" list to review when you meet them.

The other option if you don't know anyone who has bought or sold recently is to go to open houses to meet agents and see if there is anyone you hit it off with.

[zelda25]

Zillow is annoying as hell. Have you tried RedFin, or do you not like that? I really like it for being able to do refined searches.

[auntie]

A reference is great if you know someone who has recently bought/sold.

I find a drive through a good way to see what's out there. Sometimes agents push their in-house listing even when they're MLS. So if you're working a general neighborhood, a drive by makes sense. I find I can usually find a specific house listing if I google the street address or street and house for sale.

[emjacobs]

Step one: Make a list of your needs, wants, likes, dislikes, and deal breakers. Sit down and really think about them, ok so wallpaper might be a deal breaker, but is it really?

Step two: Get recommendations from friends, family, etc on REA, call several and meet and talk with them about what you are trying to do. Remember this is someone you will have to trust to help you find your home, you need to be comfortable. Don't feel bad if it isn't right for you.

Step two 1/2: Talk to your REA about listing your house (if you are selling), what needs to be done, what it should be listed for, etc.

Step three: Start searching online (I like redfin, zillow is annoying) and find houses that you think you might like. Send them to your REA, they will have either already looked at the house and might know that it won't be a good fit for you or can schedule viewings.

I bought almost two years ago so I was also in the good houses don't last long time period, if you can swing it look at houses asap, don't wait til the weekend they might not be there any more.