How to buy the home of your Dreams with the Help of a Buyer Agent in Northern Virginia.
Last week I met Heather and Rob at an Open House I was hosting. They explained they are living in a 1200 square foot apartment for the past seven years in the Fairfax County Virginia area. They have three children and the apartment was feeling very cramped! They loved their location and had built their lives around about a ten mile radius and were looking to stay in the same area.
As I mentioned I met them at an Open House in the Burke Virginia area. Heather was out looking at her options. The home I had Open was a small 1970's town home in their target area priced at $363,900 and had been updated for the most discriminating buyer. The internet pictures prompted her to visit. The home needed nothing, you could just move in and enjoy life, just what busy parents of three little ones needed.
Heather indicated she had spoken to a lender and told them what she was hoping to spend and they gave her the price range she should look in. I said OK lets schedule a time for your husband to come see the home. His next day off was Tuesday and I said I am confident this will be sold by then.
When I met Heather and Rob I had the opportunity to speak with them about what they were looking for and let them know that the town home she had looked at got a contract but we could look at the others on her list.
Now it was time to really get to know what they were looking for. I learned they had their VA Loan available to them. They had been home owners previously and could afford more but were being cautious which was all good. I asked them to tell me their "Needs, Wants, and Dreams" for their next home.
Here were their answers;
- Needs: 4 bedrooms, Dining Room, Yard for kids to play in
- Wants: Updated Baths, Updated Eat In Kitchen, Soaking Tub in Owners Bath, Gas Heat, Deck or Patio
- Dreams: 2 car garage, an office, gas, Family Room off Kitchen, Single Family Home, Basement, Formal Living Room, Community Amenities like a Pool, Playground. Their ideal situation would be to buy with no money down and have little or no closing costs. That way they could keep savings in tact
Heather was just looking at getting out of the apartment and trying to stay within budget in the same geographic area. After all they moved into the apartment with one child and now they have three! She needed more bedrooms, play space, a yard! So as we looked at other town homes and I could see they were trying to make each work but none were ideal.
Now Rob on the other hand was willing to stretch to a single family home and was willing to commute to work to make it happen.
Honework Time:
I said let me do some homework but before I do I asked Rob how far would he be willing to drive to work he said 30 mins. I asked her if I could find you the home that was updated with great play space, a room for each of the children would you Heather be willing to move outside of the community you are now in. Ok let me do some homework and we set an appointment for Saturday.
So I went to my office and did a search based on Dreams by using increments of a 5 mile radius when I got to 20 miles out in the Bristow, Virginia area from present search criteria I hit the jack pot as I knew I would!
I asked them to do their homework also by speaking to a local lender rather than an internet lender so we could get real numbers today so they know where they stand. I wanted them to learn what they could qualify for and what the payment would be. I told them money has never been this cheap to borrow and we need to look at the big picture. They actually leaned they could buy up to $475,000 if they wanted to. With that in mind I sent them Active Townhomes and Single Family Homes with in 20 miles with 2 car garages to see if any would be knock their socks off and kept the price under $400,000. I also sent them Single family Homes in that same 20 mile radius but went up to $440,000 just to see what was possible.
They picked out six homes to see Saturday and made a decision that day to buy a beautiful single family 10 miles from where she had meat me. She had never even thought to look in that area but they knew immediately that this was their home.
Real Estate is all about choices!
The Home on right was 20 miles from his job but was only 8 years old, three times as much space for only $350.00 more than their 1200sq ft apartment per month. It had everything on their Dreams list it was a no brainier and they are now ratified and will settle two weeks before Christmas!
The Lesson
This couple had surfed Zillow looking for homes for the past several years. They thought they knew their price range and where they wanted to live. Once they got with me a Buyer Agent I could talk with each of them to determine the full picture of Needs, Wants and Dreams and of course affordability. If I sold them the above town home they would have been settling rather than reaching for their dreams. I love Zillow surfers because they are educated consumers who know a good house when they see it and typically only need to visit a few in person to know if it is right for them after all they have looked at thousands of homes on line.
"These folks said Good Bye to Zillow this week they will now have hours of time available to enjoy not surfing the net looking for home."They now realize they wasted a lot of time looking at the wrong homes. That may be but I reminded them they learned a lot doing the surfing and this enabled them to make a firm decision in a timely manor when they found the right home with no remorse!
So they did GREAT!
Do you know what the Holiday Advantage is?
This time of year the sellers are very serious if they have their homes on the market during the holidays. They may be more motivate to pay your closing costs. If you or someone you know is surfing on line looking for homes come out from behind the internet and talk with me. I am easy to talk with and really want to help you. The interest rates are the lowest of the year in fact my buyer just got 3.5% rate and rates typically stay low during the holidays so it is what we call the Holiday Advantage.
Let's talk.... Contact me Now
I would love to help you find your Dream Home in the Northern Virginia or Prince William County Virginia area. You can download my FREE Mobile App and keep me in your pocket you can Download Now
I am headed to another Open House this weekend to meet more Zillow surfers I hope I get chance to meet you! We have three more weeks to get people into homes this year to utilize the Holiday Advantage to maximize your leverage and capture a great interest rate and have a tax deduction this year. It is a win, win time for buyers!
Don't hesitate to CALL or TEXT Me direct at 703-801-9367
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