Hi, I’m Lauren. 👋 If you’re a fan of the HGTV show House Hunters International, you might already know me! My story was recently featured on the episode titled “Canals and Cobblestones of Amsterdam” (Season 172, Episode 3)—and what an amazing experience it was! After years of full-time travel, I settled on the Netherlands as the perfect country to call home. But finding the ideal place is never an easy task, especially when you’re abroad!
Before I got a professional involved, I was doing A TON of my own research. It doesn’t matter if you’re house hunting to buy or rent, looking in a new country, or in the next town over—organization is KEY (pun absolutely intended). In this post, I’m going to show you how Bublup kept my house hunt super organized and made life so much easier.
1. Neighborhood Research
I, for one, didn’t know a darn thing about Amsterdam before I moved. It’s very possible that you don’t know much about the neighborhoods you’re considering, either! Even if you do, organizing your research in folders can help you weed through the pros and cons of every neighborhood, city, or even country you’re looking into.
As a traveler and remote worker, I get preoccupied with things like distance from the airport, cafes to work from, and the average cost of living. You may be researching what school district is the best, public transportation options, property taxes, and so much more.
To keep everything organized, I’d recommend making a research folder, and then creating additional subfolders for the various things you’re looking into. I.e.: schools, property taxes, distance from work, etc.
2. Property Listings
When you’re scouring the internet for your new home, you’re probably finding listings from a variety of different websites. Saving and organizing them in Bublup folders helps consolidate your options. Once the listings have a digital home, you can do all kinds of fun things:
- Make a Roll of the listings and share it with your realtor. (e.g., “These are the listings I’m interested in or the types of properties I like!”)
- Move the listings into an “off the market” subfolder as they get rented or sold.
- Use reactions to mark properties that you’re particularly interested in.
3. Notes & Photos From Showings
Sometimes, you view a ton of properties before you find your forever home. Or, in my case, a one-year lease! Looking at property after property can get overwhelming. You can quickly forget what it looked like, what information the realtor told you, etc.
Bublup is the ideal place to jot down all of your notes right alongside the listing link. You can even use the in-app camera to take photos of the property while you’re there, which can be saved alongside the listing as well.
4. The Move
This is everyone’s favorite part, no!? Just kidding. Moving is rarely a fun experience for anyone. Luckily, my move was super easy. (I was previously living out of a suitcase, after all.) Yours, however, may not be so simple.
If you’re making a really big move, you might be looking at various moving companies. Keep them all in one place so that you can research and compare before making a final decision.
You probably also have a long list of things to do before the move. Create a checklist in your Bublup folder and keep it handy. This way, you can check off tasks as you complete them.
It’s also likely that you have loads of things you want to sell as a result of your move. If so, snap some photos of them and save them in a Bublup folder. You can make a Roll of the items and distribute it online or to friends and family to get things off your hands more quickly! Ah, so many possibilities!
5. Shopping
Moving always results in a shopping list, doesn’t it? Whether it’s things you want (that space above the fireplace obviously needs a new 65” TV) or things you need (moving to a new country with nothing but a suitcase is a real joy!), a Bublup folder is extremely helpful for compiling links and notes of the various items you need to buy.
6. Invite Others!
I was house hunting solo, but I’m sure many of you reading this are not! The beauty of Bublup folders is that they are easily shared with others to become Group Folders. Invite your husband, invite your mom, invite your realtor!
You can also give people different permissions so they can only view or also edit the folder content. It’s up to you who is allowed to touch your house hunting content or just watch from afar!
Pro Tip: Earn 1 GB of free storage when you invite a friend to your Group Folder, and that friend signs up for a new Bublup account. You can get up to 20 GB.
I hope that these Bublup tips and tricks help you in your search for a home as much as they helped me.
Happy house hunting!
