In my career, I have worked with many men who transferred to Texas for work and had a wife and kids with a home back home in some other state. The longer they are here, the harder it is to be without the family and it's harder to commute. Yet, in order to provide for the family, many men have to take a risk and accept a better job, especially for economic reasons when they can't get work from home.
In the last several years, I've represented buyers (men) who were determined to buy a house in Texas and so they started the process. While the stories are all somewhat similar, the results are the same.
Mr. B (Buyer) find a house. He loves it. He calls Mrs. B (wife) and the two of them talk. She wants to see it, but can't. So she looks at pictures. She starts searching the MLS, INTERNET, Agent websites, Realtor.com, etc. Before you know it, I'm showing Mr. B homes in cities and places he never thought of because she's shopping for houses without even leaving her home!
Finally, the two of them decide on a home. He's at the house in person with me. She's on the phone. They are doing face-to-face and make the decision, they have to have this house! But the problem is, by the time she flys in or makes the long commute by car, the house is already under contract.
They try again, and again, and again... Finally, she tell him, go ahead make an offer - I trust you! You know what I like! I'll come down for the inspection. The problem is, on average, 10 out of 10 times there's something about the house she doesn't like. It could be anything or nothing.... She just doesn't like it.
Should husbands buy houses without spouses? In my professional opinion, it doesn't matter how well you know your better half or how sophisticated technology is. Skype doesn't matter. Nor does the most expensive video camera. When it comes to buying a house, spouses need to experience it together before the right decision is made for the two of them and their family. There's a lot of decision making to be made and we are not (not even spouses) created equal.
©Patricia Feager 8/12/2015
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