June 23, 2006: First-time home buyers' search provides good lessons for both buyers and sellers
I was out showing with first-time home buyers Saturday. This is my favorite job as a Realtor. Buying a home is never easy, but it gets easier with experience.
We looked at 14 houses, all in the same area. The buyers were smart, focused and well-prepared, which is not always the case.
They were able to distinguish their rational wants and needs from their visceral emotional reactions, so they were not swept away by homes that were beautifully appointed but a poor fit for their lives.
Out of the 14, they narrowed their choices to three, one of which was truly sub-optimal but happened to be selling at a great price. We revisited the top two choices and ended up settling on the second. The third choice didn't even rate a second look.
Here are some interesting facts from this fairly typical home search:
- Three sellers made it difficult for us to get in to see their homes, and one refused to let us come at all. You can be pretty certain your house will never sell if you won't let buyers see it.
- Many of the 14 candidates were poorly maintained, to put it mildly. Pet odors, food odors, yapping dogs and aggressive dogs - many of the houses were a long way from being show-ready.
- The home my buyers picked was one of four with the exact same floor plan for sale in the same subdivision. We actually looked at three of the four.
One of them had clearly been a rental and clearly had not been touched since the tenants departed. The other two were in great shape, so the ultimate choice boiled down to location, location, location: The homes and yards are better-maintained near the home they picked, and there is a huge greenbelt right at the corner.
Here's the lesson for sellers: If your home is not the best choice, either in presentation or price - or both - it's not going to sell in this market.
Greg Swann is the designated broker for BloodhoundRealty.com, a full-service Metropolitan Phoenix real estate brokerage. This article originally appeared in the West Valley regional sections of the Arizona Republic.
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