\n
You may be coming up on the end of your apartment lease. Or you may be years out from even thinking about buying a home. Or you may have lived in your own home for quite some time now. No matter where you are in your housing journey, the question of when to talk to a real estate agent is one that you\u2019re likely to ask somewhere along the way.<\/p>\n
If You\u2019re Renting<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve browsed my web site at all, you\u2019ll notice that I am not anti-renting. I rented while I was in college and in the first year of my marriage. So, on this real estate blog, there is #noshame in your renting game. \ud83d\ude42 But maybe you\u2019re considering making the transition into home buying. Where do you even start? And when?<\/p>\n
Well, I personally would say that at any time in your tenancy, you can start talking to an agent. <\/em>A good agent is not going to ask you to break your lease early, so it\u2019s never too early to talk to an agent. An agent can connect you with a lender if you will need home financing (AKA if you\u2019re not an all-cash buyer), so if you are not currently in a financial position to buy a home, the lender can give you some steps to take so that by the time your lease is up, you will be in a better position to buy a home.<\/p>\nThe same goes for if you are just a month or two away from the end of your lease. Buying a home is rarely a quick process. Many times, after you\u2019ve gotten under contract (which can take months in a competitive seller\u2019s market), you will still need about a month to get to closing. So, starting the conversation about buying benefits you if you start at least several months out from the end of your lease.<\/p>\n
If You\u2019re Needing to Sell First<\/p>\n
Well, maybe you\u2019ve bought a home before, and you\u2019ve been living in it for a while. But now, it\u2019s time for a change. You\u2019re thinking about buying a new place, but you know you need to sell first. How do you go about this process? And when?<\/p>\n
There are so many different options for how to go about selling your house while concurrently buying a new one (we\u2019ll save that for another blog post!). But ultimately, a good time to start talking to a real estate agent at this stage is when you first start thinking about it<\/em>. A good agent will likely advise you to talk with your lender about your options (if you have a balance on your mortgage). They may go over different options, such as a home equity line of credit or what a contingency contract would mean for you financially. After you and your lender talk about what is best for your financial position is a prime time to have that serious conversation with an agent to discuss a plan.<\/p>\nThe Bottom Line<\/p>\n
A good agent will not force you to buy a house before you\u2019re ready. So, if you are unsure about the entire process but are just curious about what it would look like, still pick up the phone and contact your agent! I know I personally am always up for a good ol\u2019 real estate conversation, even if it means you\u2019re not ready to buy for months or years from now.<\/p>\n
So where does that leave you? Are you ready to have a noncommittal, enlightening conversation about buying a home? Fill out my contact form<\/a> below, and I\u2019ll chat with you soon. \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You may be coming up on the end of your apartment lease. Or you may be years out from even thinking about buying a home. Or you may have lived in your own home for quite some time now. No matter where you are in your housing journey, the question of when to talk to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-buyers"],"yoast_head":"\n
When to Start Talking to a Real Estate Agent - Amanda Sells TX<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When to Start Talking to a Real Estate Agent - Amanda Sells TX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You may be coming up on the end of your apartment lease. Or you may be years out from even thinking about buying a home. Or you may have lived in your own home for quite some time now. No matter where you are in your housing journey, the question of when to talk to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Amanda Sells TX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-12T19:13:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-09T06:46:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green-Dress-Working-on-Comp-1-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2054\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amanda Rutledge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amanda Rutledge\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278\",\"name\":\"When to Start Talking to a Real Estate Agent - Amanda Sells TX\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amandasellstx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green-Dress-Working-on-Comp-1-1.jpg?fit=1370%2C2054&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-12T19:13:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-09T06:46:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36184db1c390b211f0a076da03a57ea9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amandasellstx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green-Dress-Working-on-Comp-1-1.jpg?fit=1370%2C2054&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amandasellstx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green-Dress-Working-on-Comp-1-1.jpg?fit=1370%2C2054&ssl=1\",\"width\":1370,\"height\":2054},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When to Start Talking to a Real Estate Agent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/\",\"name\":\"Amanda Sells TX\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36184db1c390b211f0a076da03a57ea9\",\"name\":\"Amanda Rutledge\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b53889b569dac40c253c2608327e50b9034d39bf1b9e7ad7e84ad7613f6acc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b53889b569dac40c253c2608327e50b9034d39bf1b9e7ad7e84ad7613f6acc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Amanda Rutledge\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When to Start Talking to a Real Estate Agent - Amanda Sells TX","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When to Start Talking to a Real Estate Agent - Amanda Sells TX","og_description":"You may be coming up on the end of your apartment lease. Or you may be years out from even thinking about buying a home. Or you may have lived in your own home for quite some time now. No matter where you are in your housing journey, the question of when to talk to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278","og_site_name":"Amanda Sells TX","article_published_time":"2021-10-12T19:13:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-09T06:46:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1370,"height":2054,"url":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green-Dress-Working-on-Comp-1-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amanda Rutledge","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amanda Rutledge","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278","url":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278","name":"When to Start Talking to a Real Estate Agent - Amanda Sells TX","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amandasellstx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green-Dress-Working-on-Comp-1-1.jpg?fit=1370%2C2054&ssl=1","datePublished":"2021-10-12T19:13:03+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-09T06:46:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36184db1c390b211f0a076da03a57ea9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amandasellstx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green-Dress-Working-on-Comp-1-1.jpg?fit=1370%2C2054&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amandasellstx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green-Dress-Working-on-Comp-1-1.jpg?fit=1370%2C2054&ssl=1","width":1370,"height":2054},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?p=278#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When to Start Talking to a Real Estate Agent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/","name":"Amanda Sells TX","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36184db1c390b211f0a076da03a57ea9","name":"Amanda Rutledge","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b53889b569dac40c253c2608327e50b9034d39bf1b9e7ad7e84ad7613f6acc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b53889b569dac40c253c2608327e50b9034d39bf1b9e7ad7e84ad7613f6acc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Amanda Rutledge"},"url":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amandasellstx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green-Dress-Working-on-Comp-1-1.jpg?fit=1370%2C2054&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amandasellstx.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}