The Observation Deck

Hello All,
My wife and I are moving BACK to Lakewood after living on Cocoa Beach FL for the past 3 years. The people down here think we're nuts but we're very excited to be coming home. We're looking to buy our first home and are having trouble finding info on Lakewood Realtors (good buyer's agents) online. (We won't actually move back till March 17th.)

Also, we see on Realtytrac.com that there are MANY Bank Owned foreclosures in Lakewood. Obviously this is a terrible situation but it creates an odd dilema for us. Do regular Realtors have experience buying these for people? Do the banks keep them in decent condition. I'm thinking specifically of keeping enough heat in the house to prevent the pipes from freezing in the winter.

Anyway, we are very very excited to be moving back and buying our first home. Thanks for any advice/references you can give.
-Ben

Ben---- Welcome back!!! Let me suggest that you call Prudential Lucien Realty and present that question. Their ad is on the back page of the Observer print edition and you can access it in PDF form.
Several agents are highlighted in the ad so pick out one, and give 'em a ring!
Stan Austin

Welcome back! We moved back here two years ago from Portland, Or, to be close to family again. There are a lot of houses for sale here currently, and unfortunately for owners here, but fortunately for you, the prices are low and you can get a lot for your money. I would recommend Prudential Lucien or Realty One (we used their Rocky River office and really liked our realtor). Also, if you need a mortgage broker, PM me for a rec. He was great to work with.

well, after watching this storm (and seeing the pics online here), you may want to rethink your plans!!!

Though one nice thing .. we've got no hurricanes or wildfires here. And plenty of fresh water.

I don't think you'll regret your decision ... I'm a lifelong east sider who moved to Lakewood in 2006 and haven't regretted it for a second.

If you need a good realtor, I'd recommend mine (he's also my next-door neighbor), John Craighead at Realty One. He's a lifelong Lakewood resident, living in the house he grew up in. He sure seems to know everything about Lakewood, and seems to know darn near everyone in Lakewood. Best of all, he really knows Lakewood homes. He's restored his own house, and he really pointed out things with the houses we were looking at ... things I wouldn't have noticed, but he knew from experience would be problems down the road. So we ended up buying a house that really has only needed some cosmetic work. We felt that John was really looking out for us when we were looking for a place, and steered us away from places that were going to need an awful lot of work.

If anything, I'd say you are buying here at the EXACT right moment, because prices are really low and you'll be able to get a helluva house for your money, you'll be able to find one in any part of the city that catches your fancy. And of course, the new library building project will finally be completed shortly, and the school renovations project is going gangbusters, so it's really a great time to move to Lakewood.

Well we're in Cleveland! Staying on W 111th temporarily right by lakewood. Thank you to everyone who replied and PM'd me, we've been really busy since we got here on Monday but having a starting point to contact some realtors really helped. I've been busy with the new job but we're going to start looking at houses on Monday!

Thanks again for all your help and suggestions.

-Ben

Ben,

You picked a wonderful time to return ... gorgeous weather, no snow, everything's peachy ...

Just kidding ... nothing like a winter welcome!!

Welcome back ... back home.