Based on your thorough assessment of your needs, both negotiable and non-negotiable, your agent can get to work on searching your local market for suitable homes for you.  When you're ready to view the homes, keep a few things in mind:

• Scheduling appointments to show a home can take some time so please be patient and allow plenty of time!
  • Not all homes are vacant or on lockbox.
  • Your agent must first contact each listing agent to check on availability, get permission and instructions to show.
  • In some cases, that listing agent might have to contact the homeowners or tenants and get back to your agent.
  • Sometimes, agents are not immediately available and your agent may have to wait a few minutes to several hours for that agent to return phone calls.
  • Sometimes, the listing agent may never return the call.
  • Sometimes, the home may be under contract - the listing agent just failed to make note of that in the MLS.
  • Remember that sometimes, especially on weekends, families may have something planned, houseguests may be visiting, etc. and the property is not available when it's convenient for you.  You must be flexible and once again, patient.
• When you are viewing homes, take notes.  Jot down things you like and don't like.  You may want to rank the house after you view it.
  • Viewing several homes in a row can often be disorienting and confusing.  One house often blends into the next.
• Ignore personal touches inside each home, both good or bad
  • I say good or bad because sometimes, if not careful, people fall in love with a home because of how it looks with the current owners' furniture and accessories in place.  Once they buy the house and move in, they fail to see the charm in the home now that the rooms are bare.
  • By that same token, don't let paint color, tacky wallpaper or really bad furniture and clutter deter you from appreciating the finer qualities of that home.  Focus on floorplan, the flow of traffic from one room to another, amount of light, the views, the size of each room, the condition of the home itself. Focus on what is important, the "bones" of the house, and look for the potential of the home with your personal touch.  Remember, ugly furniture and clutter will leave with the current owners.  Paint and wallpaper can easily be remedied...perhaps at the seller's expense!  Talk to your agent, that's why you hired her!

Real Estate Investing Course