Thanks for the pixie dust! We need all we can get about now!
Jeff, I hope you're right. I know you did a lot of research before you purchased (like me), and I found your contributions to this forum to be invaluable. Now it's just the long wait. Any recommendation how to handle that?
Susan, we did a sales visit to BWV after last year's marathon, when the BCV were actively selling, but didn't purchase. A few weeks ago I began casually checking into resales online, just to get smarter about how they worked, what was available, who handled them, etc. (I found the same four brokers Jeff listed in an earlier post, and began checking them every few days or so.)
Stumbling across this forum was a happy accident, and I read through pages of messages gathering information regarding where we should buy, who we should deal with, what we should expect to pay, etc. I was still watching three resales sites closely (I dropped Reid off the list, mostly because their web site was not particularly friendly).
I had a pretty good idea what I wanted, so last week I called Shontell Crawford, just to put out feelers and ask some questions. It turned out to be, as she said, impeccable timing. She was waiting for some info on a new listing that seemed to fit the bill (we're talking minutes here). She agreed to call me as soon as she got the info, and I hurried to contact my sister (co-buyer) to get the go-ahead. In under an hour, I received a contract via email from Maggie.
I don't know how quickly other brokers update their online listings, but Shontell keeps an email list of folks interested in buying (several hundred), and blasts out a message when new properties come in. That may happen minutes or hours before the listing gets online. What she can't do (obviously) is filter through everyone's particular wants or needs and try to match up people to properties.
If you are a serious buyer, know what you want and where you are willing to be flexible, I'd certainly place some calls. If you want to catch a property before it goes online, get on any email lists, etc. these folks may have. What I would not expect is for any of them to sort through the parameters of hundreds of prospective buyers (some serious, some not so serious) and call when new properties become available. For brokers and buyers alike, that's the beauty of online listings--it gets the inventory out there quickly.
Hope this helps. If you're ready to take the big step, make some calls and let people know that. For me, it was purely a matter of being in the right place at the right time. I'm hoping that means it was "meant to be," but until we get through ROFR, I'll probably be a wreck!
