Special offer

A peek inside the mind of a Home Buyer

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Pareto Realty TN #251071

Please meet Charlie!

We named it a non-specific Gender name because, well, earthworms are androgynous (neither and both male and female) and they more than compensate for that confusion by having 5 hearts.

20160301_135342I first met Charlie while showing a fabulously renovated house with a picturesque barn on a beautiful 1 acre lot in the country yet close to the village.

I and my Buyer clients had OOOD and AHHHHD over the house, and I was CERTAIN they would eagerly submit an offer. The listing agent had already told us that she was “expecting multiple offers” and that we would need to submit ours no later than 10 AM next day.

This house had LOTS of space for the money. Everything appeared to be new and updated. It just kept getting better and better – Awesome eat-in kitchen – all the right rooms in the right places on the main level – A creative mix of bedrooms and recreation spaces on the 2nd level – A HUGE rec room in the basement and a 2 car garage.

As often happens on a HOT new listing, another Buyer showed up while we were there, so we paused in the basement to talk things over while the other folks were viewing the 2nd level. We were discussing what to offer and calling their lender to be sure the Buyers would qualify for the Mortgage when we noticed their daughter sitting on the carpeted floor in pure fascination.

She had discovered Charlie who was making its way across the fresh, new carpet (Just as he probably does on every rainy day). Charlie was very lively and frisky and was moving along at a great pace.

Well . . . Mama Buyer doesn’t like worms and shrieked for her daughter to get away from it . . . She was REPULSED that a WORM would be INSIDE the house. That worm might as well have been a snake pit or 1000 cockroaches . . . Mama was out of there with daughter in tow.

Daddy Buyer reacted differently. His logical mind immediately wondered how and why that worm got into this room in the first place? Of course . . . There must be WATER coming into this room along one of the foundation walls through a gap large enough for that worm to use as a portal into the room, so he got on his hands and knees and began rubbing has hands over the carpet in search of dampness. His efforts were rewarded with the discovery that about 1/4 of the carpet was WET.

Well – that was all he needed to see . . . no need to spend the time making an offer. Before we headed back upstairs, Mama Buyer had walked through the house quickly again and just LOVED the house, so she came back downstairs with a new idea . . . “We could FIX the water problem or have the seller fix it or buy it at a lower price . . . ” She had graduated to a more rational line of thought . . . Let’s see if we can resolve this issue and BUY THIS HOUSE>

Oh Daddy was not playing that game, and he immediately became a Water Intrusion expert and said that it would cost at least $50,000 to fix this and, oh by the way, ALL of the exterior wood had been wrapped with aluminum and he suspected that the wood under that aluminum was ALL ROTTEN. Besides, the yard was holding water in that place where he wanted to build a workshop.

Well . . . that ended it, and we departed.

See the mess cute little Charlie caused simply by following its routine for the day?

Most Home Buyers experience a wide range of emotions within very short periods of time – From euphoria to discovery to denial to anger to rationalization to determination because the stakes are HIGH. Buying a house is a BIG HAIRY EXPENSIVE thing, and they want to get it RIGHT.

I think it helps ALL of us if we seek to understand what’s going through the Home Buyers’ minds, so we can address concerns appropriately and guide them through the maze to a celebration at the closing table.

After all, without the Buyers, the houses don’t sell because the Buyers bring the money.

these are the things the Vital Few REALTORS of Pareto Realty contemplate so as to improve our ability to meet our clients where they are emotionally and logically.

About 

Residential Real Estate Principal Broker and Founder of Pareto Realty, LLC. Creating the quintessential real estate firm with emphasis on "Live, Work, & Play" balance . . . and a true Performance Oriented environment for Real Estate Professionals. Serving the Real estate needs of Home Buyers and Sellers in Middle Tennessee.

Posted by

Barry Owen

Founder
Principal Broker
Pareto Realty
Nashville, TN

615.502.2080
www.paretorealty.co  
Call me: 615-568-2123
email me: barryo@comcast.net

Twitter

Facebook

Linkedin

Simply & BOLDLY Living the FourFold Way in Open Space!

Quintessentially connected to the real estate industry to offer the ultimate experience for Home Buyers and Sellers in Middle Tennessee . . . Inquire within!

Comments (1)

Wayne Martin
Wayne M Martin - Chicago, IL
Real Estate Broker - Retired

Good morning Barry. Just one thing can chang a buyer's mind! A home inspector would have caught the problem anyway! Enjoy your day!

Mar 01, 2016 10:10 PM