In a relocation, the role YOU have is a critical one, perhaps more so than when you are moving a short distance to a new home. Unless you are very familiar with the area you are moving to, there is much that you need to learn so that you can make an informed decision about where to live. The more time you can spend researching the area and obtaining information, the more comfortable you will feel about settling in your new location; this will help alleviate the stress also, since much of the tension will be caused by unfamiliarity and unsettled issues.

1. Use your agent's website and access to the MLS to understand the housing as much as possible - type of homes, neighborhoods, size of homes, lot sizes, age, proximity to school and shopping, etc. Keep careful notes on areas that interest you so you can research these more. There is a wealth of information on the Internet.

2. Review the Chamber of Commerce websites for the towns that interest you. These typically have lots of information about the community - services, housing, shopping, parks, schools, events, etc. You will gain a good understanding and feel for the community. The URLs for these sites will vary, so a Google search will likely lead you to the  right URL. If you are moving to my area, you can search Carlsbad, Oceanside, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Vista, San Marcos, Encinitas, Cardiff. There are other nearby communities as well.

3. If schools are important, there are a number of resources on-line. You can link to my website where there is a national search site for school districts around the country. If there are particular school districts that interest you, research these on the Internet by doing a google search for that particular school district and review their site. I also suggest contacting school districts directly and perhaps getting more updated info, as well as the names of some parents to talk with. You should verify what school(s) are in you area so you know in advance, but check again once you have decided on some homes that are of interest - you might find that they are tied to different schools, and if that makes a difference to you knowing this will be important before you make an offer. While your agent may know, it is best for YOU to check this out. You will find that some information on the school district websites may be outdated, and boundaries for schools can change.

4. Crime may also be of concern, and if so you should check on this yourself. A Realtor cannot guide you to or away from an area based on crime statistics. One source is the police department for the town of interest (sometime the chamber website will have this information). You can also research this on the Internet. California also has a database of sexual offenders you can search.

I'll talk some more about due diligence in a later post. Any questions, please feel free to ask me directly if you wish.

Looking for a home in your new location will be exciting, but challenging, especially if you are not nearby and need to focus only online. It can be even more stressful when you don't know the area and need to learn as much as possible quickly. The Internet is a great tool for doing this, given the amount of information that is there. And with your Realtor's help you should be able to target your search fairly quickly, once you narrow down the price range (by getting pre-approved) and the communities you are interested in. And if you know the other criteria that are critical (e.g., # of bedrooms, square footage, etc.) that will help target your searching further. (NOTE: Above is a picture, on a rather cloudy day, looking north from Mt. Soledad in La Jolla - you can really get a feel for how expansive the area is from up there - the views, especially on a nice day, are awe-inspiring, and you can see as far north as the mountains in Camp Pendleton).

1. Know your budget and price parameters. You will waste a lot of time just having fun looking if you can't narrow your search based on what you can afford. BE REALISTIC!!

2. Sign up for daily emailed listings from your Realtor so you have up to the minute listings every day to consider. This will also give you an idea of the inventory, how long homes stay on the market, and values by community. Use your Realtor's site to search for listings too, until you narrow down the communities and price range. Then you only need to consider the daily listings that are emailed since they will be homes that fit your specified criteria. If new construction is important, ask your Realtor, some but not all new construction homes/subdivisions are in the MLS; you can often find the sites for the different developers once you have the names from your Realtor.

3. Keep notes on the towns you like and general info you learn as you search. You may want to set up a file online to store listings, or use manila folders for hard copy files for each town and listings that interest you.

4. Use the maplinks on the MLS listings, Google Maps , Mapquest, or Google Earth, and a good area map to help you define the areas you would like to look in, provided you know where work will be. If you are moving to a large metropolitan area this will be important as traffic conditions, access to major roads, etc. will play an important role in how long it takes to get to work from your new home.  Your Realtor can give you some recommendations based on your general criteria but you will need to do the research yourself since YOU have to decide how far a long or short commute actually is. And check it out live when you get to town. You can also do searches online for "commute times" in different major cities and determine how long, on average, it will take to drive from one location to another on various routes, and some provide up-to the minute traffic reports - check this one out for San Diego.

5. If you don't know the area at all, do some online research on the communities that appear to be near your new job(s). Generally most towns have a community website - it may be the Chamber of Commerce site or some other. You can readily find this by doing a Google or Yahoo search (or whatever your favorite search engine is). Ask your Realtor for a list of sites too.

6. If you can manage a preliminary house hunting trip, I recommend it. You can get a good general feel for the areas you have targeted and will have a truer view of the housing once you have seen some live. Have your Realtor arrange a blitz tour of some homes and towns that interest you. You can then rule out areas and homes that you find don't appeal to you or meet your criteria, and not waste time looking at the listings online in those areas.

7. Ask your Realtor to screen in/out homes that you have seen online that appeal to you based on your criteria. For example, it may not be obvious that a home is right along the freeway. Or you can't tell that the property really is better as a tear-down. Your Realtor can also preview homes for you and provide more detailed information - if they can't or won't, perhaps you are using the wrong person!

Have specific questions about Southern California, relocating in general. Email me, call me toll free at 877-845-3178, or visit my website.