Help a first timer find a realtor in the triangle (NC)
March 27, 2017 9:23 AM Subscribe
I'm a first time home buyer looking for Realtor recs and/or advice . I'm in Chapel Hill/Hillsborough/Durham, NC. Snowflakes within.
I (27/f) am beginning the "looking to buy a house" process. I'm chatting with banks and mortgage brokers and am already in the groove of checking redfin/realtor.com/trulia/zillow every day, but think it's time to find an actual human being to help me through this process.
The complicating factor is that I have no friends or coworkers who have recently/ever purchased a home, so the usual word of mouth method is coming up empty.
Things I am looking for
1. Respectful of my budget
2. Responsive (preferably a blend of email and texts with less reliance on constant phone calls)
3. Knowledgeable
4. Trustworthy
5. I don't know? This post had some good qualities as a guidepost.
Does anyone in the area have good or bad things to say about someone they used to buy/sell in the recent past?
Also happy to receive more general advice if you don't have a specific name to throw into the ring. Just looking for something a little stronger than Google to go on.
I (27/f) am beginning the "looking to buy a house" process. I'm chatting with banks and mortgage brokers and am already in the groove of checking redfin/realtor.com/trulia/zillow every day, but think it's time to find an actual human being to help me through this process.
The complicating factor is that I have no friends or coworkers who have recently/ever purchased a home, so the usual word of mouth method is coming up empty.
Things I am looking for
1. Respectful of my budget
2. Responsive (preferably a blend of email and texts with less reliance on constant phone calls)
3. Knowledgeable
4. Trustworthy
5. I don't know? This post had some good qualities as a guidepost.
Does anyone in the area have good or bad things to say about someone they used to buy/sell in the recent past?
Also happy to receive more general advice if you don't have a specific name to throw into the ring. Just looking for something a little stronger than Google to go on.
Best answer: Contact Virginia Sloop at CarrboroRealty.net. She's recently licensed, but has worked with properties for a long time and has lived in the area forever. She knows all the neighborhoods.
posted by 41swans at 10:24 AM on March 27, 2017
posted by 41swans at 10:24 AM on March 27, 2017
Response by poster: Just wanted to add that a PM is fine! I know this is a personal-ish question!
posted by sazerac at 10:38 AM on March 27, 2017
posted by sazerac at 10:38 AM on March 27, 2017
Best answer: I don't have a specific realtor to recommend, but I just wanted to warn you that the market is going VERY fast right now because demand is high but prices are reasonable. Several of my friends are trying to buy homes and homes are being bought within 1 or 2 days of going on the market
posted by JZig at 10:56 AM on March 27, 2017
posted by JZig at 10:56 AM on March 27, 2017
Response by poster: Yep, that's been in line with my armchair observation, JZig.
posted by sazerac at 7:34 AM on March 28, 2017
posted by sazerac at 7:34 AM on March 28, 2017
Best answer: I'm still a renter (in Cary), but I polled my friends who live out your way:
A friend who sold his house in southern Durham last year used Toni Kemble. "She was nice and did all the documentation and signing things electronically."
Another said he's used Pat Timothy three times. (Sounds like they're all over the Triangle.)
JZig is right. It's crazy out there. The townhome next to me sold with just a "coming soon" sign out front. I never found a listing for it.
Another friend who has owned houses in Cary and Knightdale says, "My best advice is to find someone who specializes in the area where you want to live. I’d narrow it down if possible before I picked one." It's nice to have someone who knows a town/neighborhood well enough that they can tell you about things before they officially list.
posted by katieinshoes at 7:43 AM on March 28, 2017
A friend who sold his house in southern Durham last year used Toni Kemble. "She was nice and did all the documentation and signing things electronically."
Another said he's used Pat Timothy three times. (Sounds like they're all over the Triangle.)
JZig is right. It's crazy out there. The townhome next to me sold with just a "coming soon" sign out front. I never found a listing for it.
Another friend who has owned houses in Cary and Knightdale says, "My best advice is to find someone who specializes in the area where you want to live. I’d narrow it down if possible before I picked one." It's nice to have someone who knows a town/neighborhood well enough that they can tell you about things before they officially list.
posted by katieinshoes at 7:43 AM on March 28, 2017
Best answer: Tim Mock at Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston. (Look him up on Facebook too.) He is incredibly friendly and easy to talk to, super responsive via text and email, has a whole online system for filling out and signing forms and documents, and is generally just very up to date technologically.
He also does a ton of research and makes very data-driven recommendations. Like, when we sold our house, he showed us graphs and tables of data on recent home sales to explain his recommendations on pricing, which I loved. He's great at explaining and communicating that data too, so you won't be buried under more confusing numbers -- you'll know what they mean.
Also, he isn't afraid to get his hands dirty when showing you a house -- like he'll go and look in the crawl space or the attic, crawl under or on top of things to find out what's going on. He has personally done a lot of renovation work and knows what he is looking at.
posted by snowmentality at 8:03 AM on March 28, 2017
He also does a ton of research and makes very data-driven recommendations. Like, when we sold our house, he showed us graphs and tables of data on recent home sales to explain his recommendations on pricing, which I loved. He's great at explaining and communicating that data too, so you won't be buried under more confusing numbers -- you'll know what they mean.
Also, he isn't afraid to get his hands dirty when showing you a house -- like he'll go and look in the crawl space or the attic, crawl under or on top of things to find out what's going on. He has personally done a lot of renovation work and knows what he is looking at.
posted by snowmentality at 8:03 AM on March 28, 2017
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posted by melodykramer at 9:46 AM on March 27, 2017