For anyone who has lived in the city for a while, the suburbs can seem like a strange and alien place. How does that Chinese restaurant think it will make any money if it closes before midnight? And why are all the mysterious beings that live there so interested in talking about the weather and their lawn care techniques?
Okay, so maybe that’s a little bit extreme, but making the move from the city to the suburbs is still a big change. So much so that many people who are looking to make the transition don’t even know where to start. For anyone who is on the white picket fence about moving to the suburbs or is just unsure of the best way to go about it, help has arrived.
As The New York Times reports, many real estate agents in cities, such as New York City, have teamed up with suburban agents for seminars and tours of the suburbs. In return for bringing the city clients to the suburban agents, the city agents get a cut of the commission for any people who decide to buy in the suburbs. These services act as step-by-step guides for individuals looking to make the move.
Tours costing $35 per person take city-dwellers around the downtown areas of local, popular suburbs, and allow them to learn about the town, its personality, and its characteristics over a three-course lunch. Other things, such as better real estate values, farmers’ markets, and culinary options, are also explored to show just how comparable a good suburb can be to the city.
Serious clients are assigned a ‘suburban strategist’ who is not a real estate agent, who helps answer the question of how a particular client wants to raise their family. Based on the answers to this question, the possible areas are narrowed down to search for a home and the clients are then referred to an outside real estate agent.
