OP here - thanks for the good advice on the lending info - I did find an agent to show me the house plus two others (provided they're still on the market by the time I get there!), and she advised the same thing. I have contacted my bank in the US to find out how this all works when you've been living overseas - don't know how US lenders will asess our purchasing power, and I don't know whether a US seller would accept documents from our European bank ...

11:28 here - the last thing I'd do is to get prequalified from a lending institution and ask around for mortgage rates at various institutions so that if you like the house, you know your purchasing limit, and you already have a good idea which bank you'll be using.

In fact, by starting this process early, the banks can/will leverage against each other, so you can play the game a little bit and negotiate yourself the best deal. In this market, I wouldn't go for a 30-year loan with any points (so, zero points) and no more than a 4.5% interest rate.

OP, our agent cheerfully volunteered to drive us everywhere even before we knew which ZIP code we wanted, and even before he was officially "our" agent. I had not been expecting that, and it was a treat as he has been in the business for 20+ years and had many good stories to tell. He was very thorough in his research, so we got lots of good "inside" info from his conversations with the listing agents.

Absolutely, you should expect no less. In your case an agent wld be making a small investment in exchange for a potentially great payoff as PP mentioned, plus there are not many good homes on the market.

OP, whyndon't you just call the listing agent to look at the house since you will only be in town for a little while and when you PCS you plan on renting for a year...sounds like you might wnat to just rent a car (flex cars are easy) and find your way out there. Good luck, we bought a house shortly after returning from overseas and found an agent who was more than willing to drive us around but in the end we wanted our own car to be able to have private conversations between houses.

OP here - thanks everyone - it's really a question of whether I need to rent a car for the day - I can, but it's a bit of a pain, and I am prone to getting lost. I'd rather take a taxi to the agent's offices and have them drive. It sounds like that's an acceptable practice, but I take the point that choosing an agent in Potomac and asking them to pick me up in DC is asking a bit much. I will try to find a DC-based agent licensed in MD.

Just to clarify (especially for the last poster - glad to see you're rather nasty-jump-to-conclusions comments are the exception rather than the rule here), I don't mind using an agent - in fact, since we'll be new to the area and relocating from overseas, I want to use an agent. In this case, I am taking advantage of a business trip to take a quick look at a house we've fallen in love with on line - it's a one-off, and a longshot (especially since it's priced a bit above our budget). We had planned to rent for a year after arriving, interview and choose a good agent, and then start a search in earnest during that time. I don't want to tie myself to one agent chosen in haste from afar to look at this one house, so my earlier post was about that. I got a load of positive, constructive and useful advice from this board, and I am very appreciative. On that basis, I understand I can pick a reputable agent and ask him/her to show me this one house. If we buy, we would certainly use that agent, who won't have done all that much to earn a commission, but I expect that's the nature of the job - sometimes it's "easy" and sometimes its a PITA, and if you're lucky, it all comes out ok in the end. I have zero issue with that agent earning a nice commission on an easy sale. If we don't buy this one house, then we might use the agent (if I were lucky on the choice and it's a good fit) for a broader search later on or find someone else. I believe based on advice here that this is perfectly acceptable. I will certainly be upfront with any agent I ask to show me this one house to be clear that it's a one-off.

I like the idea of looking at a couple of other houses while we're at it, and there are a couple of others in the same neighborhood that would be good for comparison. I don't have a ton of time (just that Sunday) and also don't want to waste an agent's time. But one or two would be useful. Thanks for the suggestion.

Again, thank you ALL (one exception :roll for the useful advice, yet again.

So you don't want to use an agent, but you have no problems asking one to chauffer you from DC to Potomac and they won't make a commission because you won't use them? What do you think agents are, your own personal transportation service? How insulting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can probably meet them at their office, but if they are located in maryland, it will be a lot to ask for them to pick you up in DC.

if you are looking to purchase a home in Potomac (lets pretend it costs somewhere between 800K and a 1M) they will make between 24 and 30K on the deal.

Yes - I would absolutely EXPECT them to come pick you up. IF they can't, find an agent who will.

PP - that's true, I didn't think about it that way.

OP, if they are going to pick you up and show you this one house, why not have them show you some comparable properties at the same time that have the same features as the one you like? I know you didn't want to use an agent BUT, you clearly need the help.

Anonymous wrote:You can probably meet them at their office, but if they are located in maryland, it will be a lot to ask for them to pick you up in DC.

if you are looking to purchase a home in Potomac (lets pretend it costs somewhere between 800K and a 1M) they will make between 24 and 30K on the deal.

Yes - I would absolutely EXPECT them to come pick you up. IF they can't, find an agent who will.

You can probably meet them at their office, but if they are located in maryland, it will be a lot to ask for them to pick you up in DC.

If it was your regular agent that you'd been working with, they would definitely do this. If boy, I'd say it depends how far you're asking them to go and how serious you really seem about buying.

Absolutely if you request them to.

Depends on your agent. We tried a couple - the one we went with preferred to pick us up, others asked us to meet them at their office. From the office, they drove us to the viewing.

Hi - uninformed overseas OP here (again!), with a basic question. You were all so helpful on my earlier question about whether I could use a broker for a one-off viewing. Here's a follow up: will the broker pick me up in DC and drive me out to Potomac to view the house? Otherwise, I will need to rent a car and navigate out there on my own - not a big deal, but I am prone to getting lost (although we bought a US portable GPS to help us explore the area). I just don't know what's usual to expect. The other downside (for the agent) is that the only free day I have is a Sunday ...