Buying a House in Two Weeks Flat
I once bought a house in two weeks flat. I began my housing search on Friday. By Saturday night I had an accepted offer on a condo. An inspection followed a few days later. The Purchase and Sale was formalized a few days after that.
This was a pretty mean feat, considering I lived in Italy at the time! But house-hunting from afar is not so easy for most people. I had the benefit of having lived in Boston for many years before I bought long-distance. I already knew the neighborhoods. I had a good idea of what we were looking for (a one bedroom pied-a-terre to be used part-time). I had a strict budget. With such tight parameters, the rest came easily. I flew into town for a couple of weeks with the express purpose of finding and buying a condo. I found it and lived in it, happily, for the next eight years, marveling at how well I had done with practically zero time to look.
Today, house-hunting from afar is even easier. The internet hadn’t exploded into what it is today when I bought that pied-a-terre back in the late 90s. Here’s a few words of advice for those looking to buy a house in Boston from a distance:
1. Use the internet. Of course, this goes without saying. And since you’re reading Mondoboston, evidently you’re already familiar with the riches of the net. You can explore neighborhoods and peek into houses, getting a pretty good idea which neighborhood is going to serve you best. (Check out our neighborhood pages.)
2. Use tight parameters to your advantage. Stick closely to a list of must-haves. Your list will actually help you move more quickly rather than slow you down. Our tight budget worked to our advantage because we didn’t waste time on houses that wouldn’t have worked.
3. When in Boston, visit open houses. Chances are you’ll spend some time in Boston prior to deciding to buy here. When you do, visit as many open houses as you can. Doing so will help you understand what’s a good deal when it finally comes along.
4. Plan on taking a couple of weeks to look, make an offer, and sign a purchase and sale. This is a pretty tight time frame, but it can be done. If you enlist the help of a realtor ahead of time and discuss in detail your housing parameters, your realtor can present you with several options when you’re in town. Be sure to factor in that your prospective home will need to be inspected (which can usually be done on relatively short notice) and that you will then need to sign a purchase and sale agreement. You may be able to arrange to have this done by FAX or a Limited Power of Attorney.
5. Be ready to act fast. You’re going to need some money (2 percent or less of purchase price) when you make your first offer. That means you’ll probably need to have some funds in an American bank account (unless you can work out some other agreement — talk with your realtor). If you have your initial funds all ready to go, you’ll be able to make an offer quickly when it’s time to act.
6. If you have friends or family in Boston, enlist their help. Friends may know a lot about different neighborhoods, or they may be able to recommend a realtor.
7. Look over an offer to purchase before it’s time to do the deed. That way, you’ll know what to expect when its finally time to make an offer.
8. Factor in the closing. If you are taking out a loan from an American bank, six weeks or more may pass before all the documentation is completed. On the other hand, if you’re buying in cash, the transaction may be finished a lot faster. You may not necessarily have to attend the closing if you have designated Power of Attorney to someone else, but you’ll probably still want to be there to make sure the property fulfills your purchase and sale agreement.
Image: freedigitalphotos.net
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