Choosing The Right Savannah Ga Location For You

I recently received a call from an out-of-town prospective home-buyer who will be coming into Savannah this weekend to start the home-search process. We both agreed, since the buyer is unfamiliar with the area, that we would use this first visit to look at areas so we can narrow down the search and then concentrate of the area, or areas, they feel meet their needs best. It does little good to rush out looking at house after house if the area is not suitable to the buyer’s needs.

This might seem obvious, but too many buyers see homes on the internet, fall in love with a particular house, call the agent to view the house, and before you know it they have contracted to buy the house, only later to find out they really don’t like the area after becoming more familiar with it and learning what options they could have chosen.

So, having agreed with this particular buyer about doing an area search first, I told him I would pre-view several areas to find out what changes are being planned, and that I would pick out a couple of homes in each area that are representative of the price range they’ve chosen.

Out of three areas I chose, and these are new development communities with sales offices, the first didn’t have anyone on duty, the second gave me a brochure and recommended a couple of homes, and the third rode with me to look at several homes, took me by the new clubhouse and went over in detail what he knows about planned changes in the area.

The third agent understood the importance of information, not just home information, but area information. The second agent kept going back to the features of what she had deemed as the perfect home to meet the buyer’s criteria, even after I had stressed we were mainly area-shopping.

Which brings me to my point, and I almost always have one – It’s not always about the house!

I have said this before and I will likely say it many more times, first settle on an area. You don’t want to find out the area is unsuitable AFTER you’ve bought a house you fell in love with on which you acted impulsively. A good buyer’s agent can help you understand the area and help you resist each listing agent’s pitch on particular homes.

Home-searching should be a fun process, but it should also be methodical and smart, acting on as much information as you can get.