mondoboston.com

Posted by Pam on February 20th, 2008 in real estate advice

So maybe you’ve been to Boston a few times for work or pleasure. You ‘ve made the decision: You want to buy in Boston!

What’s next?

These days you have more options than ever before. You can attempt to look for property yourself, using the web and new sorts of “realtors” that charge you only a flat fee to help you along with your search. Boston.condodomain.com is one such place to go, along with Redfin.  Customers simply search for homes on those websites, arrange tours with their virtual agent, and when they’ve found a home they like, they draft an offer online. It can be a great system for tech-savvy buyers, and is especially useful for sellers wishing to save big bucks on realtor’s commissions.

But such a system has a downside for international buyers. Foreign buyers and buyers who live abroad often don’t know the city well. They also often have shorter periods for house-hunting. That means they need to maximize time. And since the seller usually pays both the buyer’s agent and seller’s agent in the traditional transaction, there is often less motivation to go through a site where you have to do more of the work yourself. Realtors can help pinpoint properties that meet very specific needs (like finding only properties with bay windows or a certain floor plan.)  And they can preview properties so that you don’t waste time traisping through houses that don’t interest you.  Many realtors know of properties that will shortly be listed that are not on the market yet. So their inside knowledge can help you get a jump on getting to the right house first. Another big plus: there are many realtors that specialize in handling buyers from one particular country, and who speak a variety of languages.

Numerous realtors handle downtown and the outlying neighborhoods — too many to name in one blog posting. But if you decide it’s time to get a realtor, just drop us a line and we can refer you to a realtor who can best meet your specific needs.