Never to early to start looking for a home or agent. Just find someone you want to work with and tell them your situation.
Should work out well for both of you as long as you are both on the same page.
Jeff

Hi Jo!

The advise you have been given already is good. Finding an agent that knows the area is very important. They will already know homeowners in that area. This gives them the opportunity to already know someone that is considering a home sale in the next few months. Or the homeowners they know may know someone considering a move. If the agent has a good network they will have a better opportunity to find you the right home.

Contact a buyer's agent that is familiar with the neighborhood and values in that area. Be sure they are tech-savvy enough to communicate everything you need. If there's no virtual tour online, ask them to go preview the house and send you their own virtual tour.

Jo:

Welcome to Houston! It is a great place to call home for the many things we have to offer both jobs, entertainment and the value of real estate. I think now is a great time to find an agent to assist you with your purchase. I have worked with several buyers in the last couple of months from out of state. Depending on what part of the City you are looking will depend on how aggressive you need to be in the market. I wish you luck in your search.

Hi Jo,

It is not too early to ask a buyer's agent for information. As a matter of fact, if you wanted to, you could even submitt an offer on the property and negotiate on a price in order to take it off of the market. I would be more than happy to go out to the property and take a look at it for you, get some pics, floor plan, and any other informatino you might need. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience,

Juan Carlos

Now is the time to get your buyer's agent in place. The Realtor will be able to find out more information on this property, the area and watch for additional homes that may fit your needs. Since you know that the property in in a very desirable area, it sounds as if you already know about the Houston area. If I can be of any help, please call me. Happy house hunting!

I think it depends on when you plan to buy and when you plan to look or how you plan to handle your purchase. Will you purchase long distance or do you need to be there to see it? If you want to purchase long distance wiithout being there in person then now is a good time. If you need to be there in person, probably better to wait until about a week before you get there.

Get preapproved NOW so that you are ready to hit the ground running when you get there. Have your buyer's agent line up homes to see perhaps a week before.

Good luck and welcome back.

Jo, I've been in your shoes, moving back to the U.S. from an overseas assignment, and I know a few of the challanges you may be facing at this time. No, it is not too early to contact an agent, and also a mortgage lender. I've seen many 90-day closings in hot areas in Houston this spring. If this home is in an area closer to the inner part of Houston, I could visit this property, take additional pictures for you, send you information and pictures on schools, shopping, restuarants, transportation options and take pictures of that for you, as well. Let me know if I can help you with this important move!
Gail Nash

Jo,
Alan as usual has very good advice. Contact an agent now. The property may be unusual to the area and may be hard to duplicate. But A good sellers agent can make a sows ear look and sound great so if you already sigh up with a buyers agent, that agent can preview the home, do the comps and tell you if it is what you think it is.
As far as a referral, you want someone from HAR ( the Houston Association of Realtors ) looking up that referral for you. We have the tools to find out the tract record of the other agent. Contact an agent in HAR that is outside the area you are looking in. That is unless you have found on on Trulia that you like the way they answer the questions. If you are overseas you want a knowledgeable agent, not a new one hooked up with an office with a missing in action Broker.

Any way I am sure you will love the Houston area, and do as Lynn says start that mortgage work, that can be done long distance.

Margaret

Jo,

One of the best bits of advice that I believe I share with my clients...Buyer AND Sellers...is to remove the word "wait" from their vocabulary when it comes to real estate. We know what the market is today...and there is no way to predict the future. So we really have to make our decisions on what we know. So my advice and counsel to you is this...if you have found a home that you really like, begin to move forward on it now. Who knows, you might find out that this is not the home for you. And it's better to know that sooner rather than later.

You mentioned a Buyers Agent...

If you have already chosen one, great. If not, while I am Dallas based, I am a member of the largest relocaiton network in the world...Cartus...and can certainly refer you to an excellent Buyers Agent in the particular area of Houston you are interested in. There is no obligation to you to work with a member of the network, but if you are interviewing Buyers Agents, it might not hurt to have an extra name.

Please feel free to call or email me if I can help you in any way or if you would like this referral. And welcome to Texas!

Alan Wynn - Realtor
Like NO ONE Else!
214.729.5582
info@DallasHousesOnTheWeb.com

No start now the reason why you can place a contract on the property perhaps work on the closing date for happy median between you and the seller, you can drag out the negotiations and etc. GOOD LUCK
http://www.lynn911.com