Buying a home is overwhelming enough, buying a home in another state is a different thing entirely. Our first piece of advice, of course, is to find a real estate agent who’s got your back and will guide you through every step of the relocation process.
Aside from having the right real estate expert in your corner, there’s plenty you can do to prepare yourself before relocating to Salt Lake City or any other place.
Thoughts about building a community for yourself are important, according to Market Source Agent Katie Ferriello.
“Before moving to Salt Lake City, I did a lot of research on clubs and activities in the area. I knew about the Italian league, a language class I wanted to take, and the League of Utah Writers. That helped me create some structure and meet people when I finally arrived at my new home. “
1. Find Your Real Estate Agent Soulmate
You may already have a local realtor who you know and trust but finding a good realtor can become tricky when you are relocating. Most realtors are only licensed in their home state, so you’ll have to do some research to find someone you can trust in the state you’re relocating to. Your home state realtor may have a referral for you. But if you’re starting from scratch, take a look at our real estate experts here to get a sense of each of their areas of expertise and see who might feel like the right match for you. Each of our agents offers a free online consultation where you will discuss your long-term financial goals, lifestyle needs, the current state of the housing market in Utah, and what you can expect to spend on the right home for you.
2. Understand the Realities of the Market in the Area You’re Looking
While the nationwide temperature of the housing market should give you a general indicator of what you can expect, markets can be location specific. In that case, be sure to ask your newfound real estate agent what the market is looking like in the state you plan to relocate to. You’ll want to know and understand, generally speaking, what the median price of homes is if homes are selling above or below or at asking, if buyers are in a position to ask for concessions, etc. Coming prepared with a proper home-buying strategy will allow you to navigate any potential frustrations or delays down the road and help keep the home-buying experience running smoothly.
3. Understand Your Long-Term Financial Goals
This is one aspect of home buying that, shockingly, very few real estate agents bring up. While we are not licensed financial advisors and can’t provide financial advice, we do strongly advocate for working your home-buying plans into the long-term financial plan you have worked out with your personal financial consultant. Be sure to set a meeting for your Personalized Home Buying Strategy with one of our agents to get a sense of how to strategize your home purchase to line up with your long-term financial goals.
4. Understand Your Lifestyle Needs
We highly recommend taking a moment to think about the place you live currently and the aspects of it that do and do not work well for you in order to know better what you will be looking for in location. Here are a few prompts that may be helpful. What do I love most about my current neighborhood and home? What are some of the biggest challenges? Do I prefer to live in a rural or urban environment? Is it more important to me to have a larger home with a covered garage and yard or am I willing to sacrifice space in order to be close to an urban area? Do I prefer to be located near an international airport? How far away am I willing to live from local amenities such as grocery stores, coffee shops, and local restaurants? Is having a yard or outdoor space a priority for me? Is a sense of neighborhood community important to me? If I have a family, will my children attend public school, and, if so, what school districts do I prefer?
5. Research Neighborhoods On Your Own
While your real estate agent can give you a few recommended areas based on your lifestyle preferences, it’s helpful to do some precursory research on your own. Websites such as If you have relatives or know a friend-of-a-friend in the city, reach out to ask questions about the area. Websites such as AreaVibes and U.S. News & World Report can also give you plenty of information about a city including its housing market, livability scores, job market, schools, crime rate, and cost of living. Preparing yourself with an understanding of all the areas that line up with your lifestyle goals will make the long-distance house-hunting experience much easier.
6. Understand the Cost of Living
The cost of living can vary remarkably from state to state and city to city. While your real estate agent can, again, give you a good idea of what you can expect based on the area you choose, it’s important to come with a sense of a few areas that fit your income level. A few things to look for in your research are the median cost of homes for the entire city, and the median cost of homes for each neighborhood you are looking at. Additionally, it’s important to know and understand the average cost of gas, groceries, restaurants, childcare, public transportation, and rent. You can get a good sense using this Cost of Living Calculator by Nerdwallet.
7. Get Pre-Approved for A Mortgage
Once you have your Home Buying Strategy in place including a sense of your long-term financial goals, the general cost of living in the state you are moving to, the neighborhoods you would most like to live in, and the size and layout of the home you will need, it’s important to know what you can qualify for. This is where your real estate agent and a great relationship with your Lender come in handy. A good lender will work with you to create a pre-approval letter that will help you to understand how much home you can qualify for. The general rule of thumb is the better your credit score and debt-to-income ratio, the lower your interest rate and the less you spend on paying your mortgage back.
Try our monthly mortgage calculator on this page to estimate your payments.
8. Plan a Visit to Get the Lay of the Land
There’s no substitution for actually walking through and getting a feel of the neighborhoods in the city you plan to move to. As such, we recommend at least one trip, if not two, to look at houses (and neighborhoods) in person. While you may not find the exact home you need on your trip, you’ll be able to get a better idea of the different neighborhoods as well as nearby amenities like restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, and other things you can’t see in pictures like neighborhood noise, traffic patterns, potential issues with vagrancy, and the general curb appeal of nearby homes.
9. Keep an Open Mind
In our experience, while you may be able to zero in on the exact budget, neighborhood, and type of home you are looking for, you’ll likely have to sacrifice one or two aspects of the perfect home in favor of a home that’s good enough. A great real estate agent can help you to see the potential of any home while steering you clear of any homes that will present insurmountable issues for you. For instance, you may not have the time or inclination for a fixer-upper but your budget won’t allow for a newly remodeled home in the Avenues, so you may have to compromise with a beautiful newly constructed home with plenty of space and a larger yard that’s just a bit more of a commute from work.
10. Hire the Right Moving Service
One thing we have learned from moving cross country is not to venture into the actual moving part on our own. If you can afford it, hire professional movers. Not only will they help with all the heavy lifting, but they can also handle all of the transportation aspects of the move with ease so you can focus on settling into your new home. No two Salt Lake moving companies are created alike so we would highly recommend that you get a reliable referral from your real estate agent. Our clients are provided with a short list of highly recommended vendors.
