Buyer Tips: Must-Haves, Wants and Don’t-Really-Needs

Debe - Thanks for a colorful and articulate post to help focus buyers' attention to the buying commitment!  The showing is the easy part ... the signing is the hard part - especially if they do clearly understand what they really want!  Good job!!

Hi Debe -- As always, very good advice.  Buyers can sometimes really have great difficulty in defining these first two categories, which, when done well, can serve as a solid framework and indeed, make the process much better, easier and quicker.

This sort of list filters out whether buyers are being realistic. When the must-haves are really beyond the affordability index - then serious buyers will adjust - the not so serious will hang tough.

Christine is.  I met her at the L.A. Rain Camp.  If I had thought about it I might have.

Debe - so well thought out and easy to understand. Too bad so many folks just have such a tough time editing their list down. Or have little clue to begin with.

Jeff

Debe, this is a great way to help buyers whittle down their choices and get to the point where they are ready to act.  This post should be required reading!

Debe, if buyers know these things when they start their search, they'll find what they're looking for a lot quicker.  Worth of a re-blog.

That is a great way to help the client focus on what is really important.  It also helps you know what to look for.

I help my buyers out by having them complete a buyer profile, then we perfect it from there. It helps them be more focused about what they really want and helps me do a better job at locating the best home that meets their needs.

I have a similar list that I give all my buyers, but instead of Don't Really Need it is Absolutely No Way.

Debe, as always this is so thoughtfully written and helping buyers parse the differences between wants VS. needs is very important. We have decided to remodel our house and the thoughts went from cosmetics to repairs to minor addition to...well, now it's full blown and we hav e actually hired an architect. I am sending this to my wife (and myself too) because we are starting to thinking in terms of "wants" disguised as "needs" ;-)

Debe - You are writing one great post after another with deserving gold stars :)  

It always seizes to amaze me when buyers start out looking and what they end up buying. 

Great points all, Debe.  One more that you may want to add is "Absolutely Don't Want"  Many buyers know things that they simply don't want from their new home.  A swimming pool is a common example for around here.  Many people wouldn't even look at a property if it had one, even if everything else made it their dream home!  And many people may not know exactly what they want, but do know what they don't want.

The better that buyers can prioritize the features and benefits they're looking for, the more efficient the homebuying process can be.

Excellent advice, Debe (...that I always share with my buyers, too!)

Debe- Thanks for the idea I am going to blog  about the experience as a sort of journal of the experience! We are meeing the architect again next week ;-)

Oh, dear. There’s a very important “must have” that you left off: The most thorough, detailed home inspection by the best and most experienced home inspector you can find. J