Posted by Rich-CA on May 26, 2007 at 13:12:42:
That’s a stick question. There are 50 states and a number of territories. Since we are a true Federal system, each state and territory has its own laws regarding handling of Real Estate transactions, required disclosures, and so on. Additionally, there are local customs for contract formats and so on.
I invest in other states, so here is how I evaluate a market.
(1) Determine what market has the numbers you are looking for. Factors such as job growth, price changes and so on.
(2) Contact local agents. I use HomeGain.com to get responses to my post of what I am looking for. I then contact them via e-mail with follow up questions. If their e-mail response is acceptable, I call them and talk. More questions. Try to find someone who seems knowledgeable and trustworthy. Once you do this, you have your local expert on how things are done. They will walk you through all the local requirements so nothing gets missed that might bite you later.