Originally posted on Contra Costa Real Estate Resource
My buyer said it perfectly, “In the end, buying a Walnut Creek home is a combination of dress-up, online matchmaking, speed-dating and chess.” I had to laugh because that one line summarizes the home buying process perfectly!
Think about it. The home is first dressed up (de-cluttered, thoroughly cleaned and staged) and posted online looking for a match (a buyer). Buyers then go through the online matchmaking process of viewing all of the photos, reviewing the home’s age, size, the Bio (the home’s features) and photos.
If the home appears to be a match, the buyer schedules a date to view it. Are the photos of the home current and accurate or are they from a time when the home was younger and slimmer? Is the home as interesting as it looked online or is this home one of those dates from which you can’t escape fast enough?
If the dress-up, online matchmaking and speed-dating portions of the process go well, the chess match begins. This is the unknown, unexpected and ultimately surprising part of the process for most buyers.
Since the inventory of Walnut Creek homes for sale is now excruciatingly low, it’s 
become a very strong seller’s market. The chess match is the crucial part of the process to ensure the successful marriage of buyer to home. What are the seller’s hot buttons? Are there other offers? Should you offer full-price? Full price with some “takeaways” so the seller can feel they negotiated? Short inspection contingency? Free rent-back? Fast close? What's the strategy if unexpected problems arise in the inspections? My buyer said, “Wow, you really have to think 6 moves ahead.”
The perfect ending to any buyer's story of dress-up, online matchmaking, speed-dating and chess to buy a Walnut Creek home is when they are able to schedule the wedding date (closing) and start their Happily Ever After.
P.S. Thanks Michelle M. for the great line!
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