Are you ready to offer on a house today?
For many years, it has been my personal and office policy to not show homes to prospective buyers who have not been to a lender and been pre-approved for a loan. Not only is it a waste of time for the buyer and the Realtor, but it is often quite frustrating for the potential buyer if they later find they can’t qualify for as much as they thought they could. And if you’re looking at houses without seeing a lender first, then there is a question as to whether or not you are motivated to buy a house right now.
If you view houses worth $250,000 and then find you can only afford a home for $225,000, the difference in the available homes in your new price category is usually sub-par to what you’ve been looking at, and nothing is as good as what you saw in the higher price bracket. Trust me on this one, get pre-approved.
But let’s say you’re pre-approved and want to look at homes. Before everyone gets too excited, I ask my clients one question to determine their true motivation status: If we find your perfect house today, are you ready to make an offer? If you can answer that question with a resounding “yes,” you’re well on the way to being a new homeowner.
Originally published as Are you actually motivated to buy a house now?
Of course. As I explained to Roger in #7, a lot of times the question helps them to focus on their goal. But if, after a few days, they're lackluster, I would put them to the back burner and concentrate on a more motivated buyer.
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