Marge's Real Estate Blog: The Draper Report

I must go where the wild wind blows or I must know where the wild wind blows.  Or why buyers need a local agent.

Growing up in Michigan, it seemed almost impossible to escape the wind.  It brought rain, snow, dust storms, and in the spring, it brought the balmy breezes from the south.  And, of course, the occasional tornado.  In the almost thirty years I lived in Michigan, I saw only one funnel cloud.

Why am I talking about wind.  Because buyers need to know.  Especially, those who are sensitive to the wind or want to know their patio or deck will be comfortable to use.  In addition to wind these are the other things a local agent will (or should) know:

• the local schools, elementary, middle and high schools
• what the boundaries of certain neighborhoods are within a city
• what the sales history is and has been
• location of active train tracks and the airport traffic patterns
• location of freeways
• how the water run-off from the hills affects property between the hills and the bay
• the local flood zones
• the local earthquake faults
• local city ordinances, for instance, Menlo Park has a Heritage Tree Ordinance and Palo Alto does not
• what the city governments are contemplating in terms of changes that affect homeowners