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- Online is, of course, very convenient.

You can look at a lot of
listings really quickly,

and that helps for
forming options together.

A disadvantage is you might not be aware

of neighborhoods that are a good fit.

We spoke to friends, too,

and ended up realizing that
there are certain advantages

that a agent will help you with.

When we would submit
an offer online before,

it just kind of goes into a black box,

and you have no idea where you stand,

and then maybe in 24 hours you

find out oh, you didn't get it.

With an agent they're right
in there along the way

they're telling you what some of

the other bids are sometimes,

and whether you might be able to up your bid,

where you sort of stand relative to others.

- Having an agent also I
think helps set expectations

appropriately because they can sort of say

"hey, these homes that you're looking at

and putting offers on, they're

going to go for about this much,

and your budget's this much,

so you're probably not going to get those."

Our agent helped sort of uncover new places

that we hadn't really looked at before

and focused our bidding.

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