There are many options for finding a home to buy. The easiest, and most comprehensive, is to go to a real estate website and do a search. You can use mine, or any other realtor's site, or any of the national sites. You can search by city, price range, location in a particular area (map search). Some sites all for more search criteria. This search will privide you with a list of all homes currently listed for sale with a realtor.

 

Another good way to find a home is to drive around where you think you want to live and look for yard signs. This is a great way to look for homes because you find homes where you want to live, and you see the home, not just pictures of the home, and the context in which the home is situated--what is around it. You can record the address of homes that interest you and search for additional information on the internet. Or you can call a realtor and ask for additional information.

 

Most homes have open houses, usually Sunday in Bellingham (Saturday in Lynden and Mt Vernon). It's great to tour several open houses in an afternoon. You get a great sense of each home and can compare one to the other. You are free to walk around each home and grounds. Take your time to determine if it fits you.

 

You can contact a realtor, tell him or her what you are looking for. The realtor will do a comprehensive search and can email the resultant listings to you based on your search criteria.

 

If you like any of the homes you've seen, call me, or another realtor, to make appointments to see the homes. The realtor can provide you with all sorts of information about the homes you want to see--what has sold like it recently and for how much, what other similar homes are on the market, how long the home has been on the market, and so on.