Sometimes, You Need to Look Past the Photos

Sometimes, You Need to Look Past the Photos

This week, I had the pleasure of working with a young couple that is relocating to Cedar Rapids after 4 years in Mexico.  When we started talking over a month ago, I created a search for them and they would feel defeated when all of their "favorites" were selling so quickly in our market.  By the time that it was the week of their arrival, they only had about 10 left to see on their list.

The first night, we looked at their "favorite".  I had shown the home before and in my notes to them, I let them know that the kitchen layout was "odd" and the photos did not do it justice.  Once they viewed it in person, it was easy to see why it was not what they wanted.  But you have to look past the pictures and see it for yourself.  After all, they had just met me and didn't trust me enough to pass on seeing the house.  I needed to earn that trust.

The next day, we viewed the remainder of the houses on their possibilities list and they came up empty and frustrated.  So I started adding properties that I thought they would like based on their comments on the previous 10-15 homes.  As the week went on, my choices got better and better and we started to have options. 

On Monday night, there was a new listing added to the MLS with no photos.  I knew the neighborhood and knew that they would love this house.  By the time that we viewed it, the next morning, there was already a lot of interest.  What was funny was that when we went to see it, one of the buyers told me that the pictures had popped up and they almost told me that they didn't need to see it.  Boy, were they wrong!  Seeing it in person, it was the perfect home for their needs and budget.  But they had to look past the photos.  In this case, it was better in person than it was in the photos.

They are leaving tomorrow for Mexico and will be coming back in the middle of September to close on their new home in Cedar Rapids.  We have the inspections completed and released, insurance obtained, lender chosen, and measurements taken of the rooms in the house.  We were even able to go to doctors to get the release forms to take back to their current doctors and an estimate for future fencing of the back yard of the property.  We accomplished a lot this week!

Sometimes, you have to look past the pictures.  All is not what it seems!

Keep smiling!

Karen