At this point in the process you have probably defined some clear preferences for your dream home and you have a very good estimate of your home buying budget.
Related Reading: Steps to Buy a Home
Most likely you are already set up with a search in our listing service (MLS). You can always adjust these search preferences by emailing our team so we can fine tune them. Sometimes it’s necessary to broaden your search either geographically or by removing some home preferences so that you are sent more options. If you’re hoping to build a new home, check out our list of new construction options in Colorado Springs.
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- Check your email at least once a day to review the properties we send you. Many buyers prefer to receive a daily email from our listing service. That email usually arrives between 6-8:00am MST. Other buyers can request immediate notification in order to react to a new listing immediately. This is especially helpful for competitive price points.
- It is important to open the very first email after we set up a new search for you. You’ll need to click the link to activate the notification process. After that you’ll receive an email with all new listings matching your criteria.
- Mark your listings to help you narrow down a large field of homes. This also helps our team learn more about what you like:
- Really like it: mark it with a heart
- Properties that might potentially work for you: mark it with a light bulb
- If you don’t like it at all: mark it with a trash can
- If you find a house you want to see right away, call or text us so that we can schedule an appointment quickly. Sellers usually need about 2 hours prior to showings. Now that the real estate market has calmed down and we are also out of the COVID restrictions, buyers agents are able to resume scheduling 1 hour showing windows. This helps a lot especially if you have a showing tour of 4 or more homes planned.
- If listings disappear there is a good chance that they either went under contract or the listing has been cancelled/is expired.
- There could be a couple of reasons why you might see a listing on Zillow but not in your property search list:
- There are discrepancies between Zillow and the MLS because Zillow is not allowed to generally syndicate the listings directly from the MLS. So either the listing is a “Coming Soon” listing or it’s out of date and the agent has not updated the listing.
- There might be one or more criteria that you have not added in your search on Zillow. Maybe you increased your budget, don’t have a restriction on rooms or minimum lot size, etc. However, this is always a great time to review and update your search in the MLS to ensure you are not missing a thing.
- The bottom line: your MLS property search will have the most accurate and updated information for listings. Once we are in tune, you should not have to visit sites like Trulia and Zillow anymore. Visit the search page of this website and search like a real estate agent to find homes that could fit your dream home requirements. Contact us if you need to adjust your search preferences.
- Inventory in Colorado Springs can be fairly limited so buyers usually want to see several homes at the beginning of their search. After that initial showing flurry, there are only one or two houses to see at a time as more listings become available.
- When you’ve selected a list of homes you’d like to view, our team will schedule showings. If you are seeing several homes, a route needs to be mapped out with estimated arrival times. Buyers typically spend about 15-20 minutes in each home.
- Most sellers have a minimum notification time for showings so expect to wait about 24 hours to see a home. Showing times in Colorado Springs are generally 9am-6pm Monday-Saturday and 10am-5pm on Sundays. Sellers will often allow later appointments in the summer.
- Once showings are scheduled, we will email or text you with the location and time of the first showing. We will provide you with a shortlist of homes and the sequence and time in which we’ll see them. Home buyers have found it most convenient to meet at the homes in their own vehicle and convoy to the next ones.
- Wear comfortable shoes that slip on and off easily because many homes require removing your shoes.
- Consider bringing snacks and especially water for the tour even if it’s a relatively short one. Your house hunting kit should also include hand sanitizer, a measuring tape and a note pad.
PRO TIP:
If you fall in love with the first home you see, do not hesitate to move forward with an offer. It can be difficult for some buyers to believe that the first home is “the one.” Our team has seen many buyers fall in love with the first home they see, choose to delay making an offer in order to see more homes, and have another buyer snag it in the meantime.
Our team is always here to help as you look for your dream home. Email susanna@co-regroup.com or call 719-219-9739 with questions.
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