There’s No Such Thing as The Perfect House

Colleen ~ there is no  such thing as a perfect house,  Buyers wanting that are dreamers, not buyers!

Its pretty easy. The more parameters you put in the MLS the fewer homes are available. If the must have list is long show the 3 houses available and move on. Register them as a prospect and let the MLS followup do the work

Great points. We have a limited amount of inventory to work with and then it has to fit what they want! We can fit most but not all of their desires most of the time

Buying a house is a matter of trade offs.  Also I think when people begin to look they are surprised by new ideas or some homes that they had not thought of.

Couldn't agree with you more!  Unless money is no option, there really is no such thing as the perfect house.  And, as it has been pointed out, even those that can custom build their house, they will want to change something.

Coleen, great post.  And Dan great comment! Buyers ARE people just like the rest of us.  I always have "buyers" that probably will never buy because they cannot find THE "perfect" home.  There is no perfect home; buyers who buy the "perfect" home end up renovating it to their tastes...

Coleen, I agree, there is no perfect home. It's sometimes difficult working with certain clients with unrealistic expectations. Usually, they'll know it when they see the right one, which may be somewhat opposite of what you thought they really wanted.

I am currently working with 2 buyers who are looking for THE home. It's the champagne taste on a beer pocket book syndrome.

As Real-Estate professionals... the job is to take note of a Buyer's wants and try to find a home within their budget that closely matches. Buying a home is the same as buying nearly every other thing we purchase... Cars (usually never have all the accessories we would like to have), Groceries (apples may not be as large as we'd like), Houses (would only be had by the rich & famous if they included every amenity sought). Most every time this includes communicating the fact(s) of what the property has, does not have, and offering alternatives or other ways of looking at positives & negatives.

example: They want a Pool and the house does not have one but there is a Community Pool. - With this option you have the benefit of using the pool without the hassle of maintaining a pool. Plus, you get to keep your lush, green backyard!

Home Buyer's are spending their hard-earned (Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars) cash with you. Of course they want EXACTLY what they want. Communicate with them. Show them a home that has most everything they want. Once they see the price tag, they'll begin to back off on their list of 'must haves' and step into their financial reality. If you are not willing/wanting to play the game, move on to your next client or go to work in a different field as things will NOT change. Remember, lots of buyers view realtors in the same boat as used car salesmen... just wanting them to sign so they can get the commision.

As a real-estate videographer, I fall in love with a new house at least once a week. I usually fall out of love with it once I see the $1,000,000 price tag - which reminds me just how awesome my house/home is.

We, as consumers want to feel that we've gotten more than we've paid for. Match their buying style, communicate with them, and help them to see the value. In the end, they'll either make a purchase or not. If you feel it is a waste of time, let them move on and you do the same.

remember: The BUYER is NOT there for US - WE are there for the BUYER!

The fact that there's no such thing as the perfect house is precisely why home staging works so well. People shop with logic but they buy on emotion.

A well staged home will help them fall in love and then they won't care anymore about meeting every single thing on their list of logical criteria.

If you don't believe this is true, how many people do you know who married someone who met every single item on their list of what they wanted in a mate?

For more on this, read, House Hunting — A Bit Like Speed Dating, an article which has been widely copied and imitated, but this is the original from 2002.

One phrase I give buyers when they are talking this way is, when I sold yachts in LA years ago, there was a saying in Marina del Rey that if you found a yacht at least 80% of what you wanted, that was about as good as it got; otherwise, you buy a new one of your own design and have it built from the hull up.  For some reason, that helps a lot of buyers get real.

So very true!

I have not seen the perfect home yet.  Even if it is custom built there will be something left to complain about.

This usually works; I ask buyers if they like everything about the house they live in now. They always say NO. I then say, you settled for some things you don't like for the things you do like.... and that's how it goes. You will like quite a few things about a house, some things you may not. But, that shouldn't deter you from purchasing a home. It's always going to be like that.

By chance if someone answers yes, I will respond with "that's the house you need to keep".

So very true Colleen!  Even buyers who end up building a new home, thinking that they can create the "perfect home", end up saying, "Oh, I wish I would have ______________" at the end of the process.