It only takes one...
It only takes one…
Are we talking about dating or home buying??
Honestly maybe the advice pertains to both… Home searching can feel overwhelming with how many options there are and at the same time it can feel scarce, like you’re just not finding the one. Or maybe in this specific instance as I am about to story tell on… You’ve been in the game so long and offered on a few that just didn’t fall your way and so now its taking forever…
I always feel so blessed that my clients open up to me and allow me to really help them through their home search. On this specific fall afternoon, I went out to this $200,000 home that needed A LOT of TLC. This specific client of mine has been searching for a home for awhile. Like others I have taken on this year, she was working with a different Realtor throughout 2021 and at some point she wanted to change strategies and was sent my way by a friend (pause to say THANK YOU to all of you who send people my way). But it’s safe to say she has been on what I call the buyer rollercoaster for awhile. She has seen both prices and rates increase during her search and it’s left her feeling pretty defeated. Like many buyers who are watching both rise, or being outbid in still a competitive market, it left her wondering if the dream of homeownership was just slightly out of reach.
So back to this project home… It wasn’t it. It needed way too much work. So here we are standing outside of the home and talking. She opens up to how she is feeling and tears up… So of course I do also. I really feel for my buyers - while the market is softening a little bit buying a home can still be stressful. As much as I want to shelter my clients from the stressors of the market - I can’t do that 100%.
What I can do is listen, reground my clients, create an action plan & be a support system and hold space for all the feelings that naturally arise when making a big transition in life - like buying your biggest asset or moving!
I have found that action is often the antidote to anxiety & when clients start to feel anxious around the process we recenter around the action plan… So here is what we came up with…
We aren’t seeing a lot of inventory she is interested in so to help we will create the inventory ourselves.
1) Re-clairfy the dream location & the wants/needs list
2) Put mailers together to send to specific homes we are interested in to create off-market inventory
3) Door knock the specific homes she would be interested in buying - to again create opportunity
4) Re-ground in the long term goals, WHY does she want to purchase a home? WHAT will this do for her life short and long term that makes this stress worth it.
Again home buying advice often feels like the same advice I and my other single friends are met with.
Ya gotta get out there & look, and sometimes the right one does take awhile - but if done right & we are clear around our “why,” it should always be worth the wait.
Happy home shopping! (or dating LOL!)