I sat down with first time buyers last night.  After I scheduled the appointment, when I thought about it, I

I realized that I hadn't met with first time buyers in a long time.  I do a lot of listings and move-up buyers, so my clients in general have been through the process and understand how it all goes.

As I planned my presentation, I started to remember what it was like to know nothing about Real Estate or Real Estate transactions, and what that felt like.  I was reminded of when I bought my first house, without representation, without a Realtor.  I didn't have the benefit of the help and guidance of an experienced professional.  I made it through, but I thought I was getting a really great deal.  It turns out that it was just ok.

You may have heard that in the entire body of knowledge, there are things you realize you know, and there are things you realize you don't know, but there's a huge amount of information that you don't realize that you don't know.  This is especially true for Real Estate.

First time buyers will admit that there's a lot that they don't know.  And there's a wealth of information available on the internet for them to educate themselves.  For example, last night, as I was explaining the basics of financing, my Buyers wanted to know what points were (and no, this isn't just a loan officer's job to explain).  This was something for which they could have easily just looked up the definition.  I'm glad they didn't, though.

It's up to us as Realtors to explain the things that Buyer's don't realize that they don't know.  So I did explain to my Buyers what points were, but more importantly, I explained to my Buyers how they might use this information to their benefit in the negotiating process.  I could tell by the expression on their face that having the information and being able to use it to their benefit would make all the difference in their confidence in my ability to guide them through the transaction.

Have you ever had a situation where you came up short of reaching your goal because of something you didn't realize you didn't know?