There are many must-do responsibilities associated with relocating, and one of the top concerns is finding a place to live. However, it often seems very difficult to do that if you’re still living out of the area and cannot feasibly travel frequently to the destination where you’ll be moving to look for a new abode. Fortunately, there are some worthwhile things to do that can help you narrow down prospects from afar.

Get in Touch With People in the New Destination

If you’re lucky, you’ll know at least one person that lives in the place you’ll be moving to soon or is close enough to drive to it. In that case, provided the individual is willing to search for homes on your behalf, give clear details about the kind of home you want and whether or not there are certain things you definitely do not want the residence to have.

For example, you might specify wanting a garage to store your classic car and certainly would rather avoid multi-story homes because you’re concerned about having to deal with the stairs when you get older and potentially less mobile. Ask the person to stay on the lookout for homes that match the characteristics you specified. Then, you can take action once houses are found, such as getting in touch with the associated real estate agent or asking the person who saw the residence and told you about it to go look at it more closely during an open house event.

Follow Relevant Groups on Social Media

Social media is an excellent resource to depend on as you start to learn about the place that’ll soon be your new home. Some cities are even leveraging social media to get feedback from citizens.

You’ll probably find groups of people who are buying and selling items via Facebook groups in an online yard sale-like format. Similarly, Facebook or another social media site may provide valuable leads about homes that have just gone onto the market.

Also, if you discover any social media groups geared towards newcomers, consider posting a message in at least one of them and mentioning that you’re moving to the area in the near future and are still searching for a place to live. In an effort to be as welcoming as possible, the participants in the group may pitch in to assist with the task. Some of them may have been in your shoes not so long ago, so they remember how stressful it can be to have so much uncertainty about where you’ll live.

Use Dedicated Search Sites

Although you may find some homes for sale by simply typing keywords into a search engine, you could enjoy more fruitful results by using a dedicated search engine-driven site, such as Triangle House Hunter. That particular website is for places to live within Raleigh, NC, and the surrounding areas, like Durham and Chapel Hill. Once you find some possibilities there, take the next step and connect with a real estate agent.

Look Through Local Magazines and Newspapers

You may think that print media is no longer considered a favorable platform for advertising homes, but by skipping it altogether, you might miss out on some excellent prospects. Keep in mind that a person may be selling a home independently and feel uncomfortable advertising through the internet or perhaps not fully aware of how to go about doing so.

Because it’ll likely be costly to get physical copies of local magazines and newspapers sent to your doorstep (and you’ll have to then cancel the subscription or request an address change once you find a new home) see if it’s possible to read electronic versions on a tablet, smartphone, or even in a web browser.

Then, you’ll be able to peruse new copies instantly as soon as they download, which means you’ll get a head start on some of the people who are only reading the periodicals in print. Also, remember that by sticking solely with electronic options, you won’t have to go through the hassle of either packing up the copies and taking them with you to the new home or boxing them up to bring to a recycling center.

As you can see, although trying to buy a new home when you haven’t moved to the area yet may not be your ideal situation, it’s not an impossible one. Keeping a calm attitude and using the above resources could go a long way.