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Lus Realty · Buying in PA, DE, MD & NJ

Let's Make Your Home Search a Little Easier

Tell us what you're looking for and a local Lus Realty agent will send you homes that actually fit — picked by a person who knows the area, not generated by an algorithm.

See how it works

Free, no obligation, and no pressure to tour anything.

60 secTo tell us
1 business dayTypical response
4 statesPA · DE · MD · NJ
A contemporary single-family home of the kind Lus Realty helps buyers find across Pennsylvania.
You tell us Area · Budget · Must-haves
You get back Homes worth your time
Chosen by a local agent
Why buyers ask us

Fewer listings. Better ones.

The problem with searching for a home online isn't that there's too little — it's that there's far too much, and none of it knows anything about you.

Someone Else Does the Filtering

Tell us your criteria once. An agent reviews new listings against them and sends you only the ones worth opening.

Local Context You Can't Google

Which streets flood. Which blocks are quieter. Which listings have been sitting and why. That's the part a portal can't tell you.

You Hear About Homes Early

When something matching your criteria comes to market, you get told — rather than finding it a week later after three other buyers already have.

Help When It Gets Real

Offers, inspections, negotiation and closing are where a good agent earns their keep. We'll be there for that part too.

How it works

Three steps, about a minute

  1. Tell Us What You Want

    Where you're looking, your budget, the kind of home, and what actually matters to you.

  2. We Put Together Matches

    A licensed local agent reviews what's available against your criteria — and tells you honestly if your budget and your list don't line up yet.

  3. You Decide What's Worth Seeing

    Look through them at your own pace. When something's worth a visit, we'll arrange it. Nothing before you're ready.

Buyer's guide

What to expect when you buy a home in Pennsylvania

The parts of the process that surprise people, explained plainly and before they cost you anything.

What does a buyer's agent actually cost?

This changed in 2024, and a lot of the advice online is still out of date. Buyer agent compensation is now negotiated directly and set out in a written agreement between you and the brokerage before you tour homes. It may be paid by the seller, by you, or split — but it is agreed openly rather than assumed.

What that means practically: ask what it costs and get it in writing. Any agent should be able to explain their fee in one sentence. Telling us what you're looking for and receiving matching homes carries no cost or obligation at all.

Why pre-approval matters more than it used to

A pre-approval is a lender's written estimate of what they will actually lend you, based on documents they have checked. It is not the same as the number a calculator gives you.

It matters for two reasons. First, it tells you what you can genuinely spend, which prevents the demoralising experience of falling for homes that were never in range. Second, sellers treat pre-approved offers as real and everything else as hypothetical — in a competitive situation, an offer without one is usually the first to be set aside.

You do not need it to start looking. You do need it before you offer.

What you need to have ready

  • Deposit funds. In Pennsylvania an earnest money deposit typically accompanies the offer, often 1–3% of the price, held in escrow and credited to you at closing.
  • Closing costs, separate from your down payment. Expect roughly 2–5% of the purchase price for lender fees, title, transfer tax and prepaid items. Pennsylvania's realty transfer tax is commonly split between buyer and seller, and rates vary by municipality — Philadelphia's is notably higher than surrounding counties.
  • Documents for the lender: recent pay stubs, two years of tax returns or W-2s, and bank statements.

Inspections are where buyers get their money back

Pennsylvania is a disclosure state: sellers must complete a property disclosure covering known material defects. That is useful but it is not a substitute for your own inspection, because a seller cannot disclose what they do not know.

A general home inspection typically runs a few hundred dollars and is the best-value spend of the entire purchase. Depending on the property, it is worth adding radon (common across much of Pennsylvania), a sewer lateral scope on older homes, and a termite or wood-destroying insect inspection. Findings become negotiating leverage — for repairs, for credits, or occasionally for walking away.

The most expensive mistake we see: waiving an inspection to win a bidding war. It occasionally works out. When it doesn't, the cost is measured in tens of thousands, not hundreds.

How long does it take?

From accepted offer to keys is commonly 30–45 days with a mortgage, and can be quicker with cash. The search itself is the unpredictable part — some buyers find the right home in a fortnight, others take a year. That is normal, and it is not a sign anything is wrong.

Should you use an agent for new construction?

Yes, and register your agent on your first visit. The friendly person in the builder's sales office represents the builder, not you. Having your own representation costs you nothing extra in most cases and matters most on upgrades, timelines and the contract terms — which are written by the builder's lawyers and are rarely as negotiable-looking as they seem.

Ready to see what's out there? Tell us your criteria and we'll do the filtering. About a minute, no obligation.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Does it cost anything to work with a Lus Realty agent as a buyer?

Telling us what you're looking for and receiving matching homes is free, with no obligation. If you decide to work with us, we'll explain how buyer representation and compensation work in writing before you tour anything — so there's nothing to discover later.

How is this different from just searching on Zillow?

A portal shows you everything and leaves the filtering to you. We do the opposite. A licensed local agent reads your criteria and sends only what's worth your time, with the context that isn't in the listing — the condition, the street, how long it's really been available, and what the seller is likely to accept.

Do I need to be pre-approved before you'll send me homes?

No. We'll send matches either way. Pre-approval matters when you're ready to make an offer, and we're happy to introduce you to a local lender when you want one — with no obligation to use them.

What areas do you cover?

Lus Realty is licensed in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, with the deepest coverage across the Greater Philadelphia region. If you're looking somewhere we don't serve well, we'll tell you honestly rather than take you on.

I'm already working with another agent. Can I still use this?

If you're under a written agreement with another brokerage, we won't interfere with that relationship — the form asks so we know. You're welcome to come back to us if that arrangement ends.

What happens after I submit my criteria?

An agent reviews what you sent, puts together homes that match, and gets in touch to talk them through — usually within one business day. You can change the criteria whenever you like, and there's no obligation to view anything.

Do you also help people sell?

Yes. If you have a home to sell as well, say so in the form and we'll look at both sides together — the sequencing matters more than most people expect. You can also start with a free Home Value + Equity Review.

One minute, no obligation

Tell us what you're looking for

We'll do the filtering and send you homes worth your time. No pressure to tour anything, and no cost to find out what's out there.

Prefer to talk first? Call (267) 337-8258.