Admit it, you've looked at houses online before. Your search history may be long or short, from looking at painting ideas, or interior design, perhaps daydreaming about a new home or thinking about gutting your current one. But at some point, you've hit the Internet and typed in "Houses in St. Charles" or whatever city you're looking at.
Hunting for the perfect home is usually a time intensive activity. The daydreaming of a new home starts often with a home builder floor plan, or perhaps a desire for a fresh view, or a fenced yard for a new fur baby. Big life events like adding a new family member, getting married, or sending a child off to college are also key points to encouraging a potential change of address.
Still, some Fox Valley area buyers wait for months to make a final jump to actively looking at homes, and part of our follow up is to make sure they still want to receive property listings! Find out what you're missing and get started on your list of favorite homes here: Fox Valley Home Search
It's a lot harder going from dreaming about a new home to making it a reality. If it were as simple as "Push Button, Get House" this blog would be much shorter. But even with homes available 24/7 online, getting a property showing at 2am is still pretty difficult.
Meeting the clients' expectations is truly a cooperative effort between agent and the buyers. Once a robust list of favorite homes is refined by availability, price, location, and amenities, our pre-approved clients have to do one more thing: sort the homes into "Must See" and "Maybe".
The "Must See" List: far west suburban homes of Chicagoland
The Must See homes become high priority and show up first on the buyer's Hot List. These are the top choice homes in St. Charles, Geneva, South Elgin, or Streamwood, or even further south in Batavia or Naperville, that cannot be missed. The homes are carefully selected one by one, by the buyers, from online listing digital photos, 3D tours, the price tag, and a bit of anticipation.
At the buyer's convenience, this customized list of favorites then get shortlisted and scheduled by the Buyer's Agent to visit in person. Don't worry, we'll keep the "maybe" homes as back ups, on reserve, should the Must See list fall short of expectations.
But before you run out the door-get a copy of my free Ultimate Home Buyer's Guide:
>>Get a copy of my Home Buyer's Guide here<<
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"
In other words, just because the perfect home is right in front of you, you might not want it. It has happened on occasion, with the first house a buyer visits being the one they decide to buy, but not always.
Knowledge is power and seeing multiple homes in the same day offers an immediate comparison, not only for an area, but also the price point. Buyers need to invest the time to go through this process, to ensure not only finding the right home, but also to realize how their preferences will influence their final purchase.
An educated buyer is key
When headed out on a property tour, our Fox Valley home buyers are offered a comprehensive look at the current home market, to begin their personal price comparison shopping. Within 3 home showings in Bowes Creek in Elgin, for example, buyers begin to see a pattern, of what homes in the area tend to be like, and whether a home meets, exceeds, or misses expectations.
This becomes even more important when the buyers view a home that missed the mark. Sometimes it's subtle, other times it is very clear, but when one home clashes hard with the last 3 you've seen, the buyers gain a deeper understanding of current market value to quickly put to practical use. Seeing multiple homes also eliminates buyer's remorse as well as the fear of missing out. A great buyer's tour and knowledgable agent boosts buyer's confidence to put in the right offer, on the right house, when they are ready.
"HouseVana" does not exist
We would all love the home buying process to be as simple as buying a car from a vending machine like CarVana. You pick the make, year, and model and color, and it's done! A simplified home buying process would let people buy homes on the internet with a few taps and never have to worry about a thing.
We aren't there yet. It doesn't come together as easily for a personal home purchase as easily as a car purchase. Unlike a car with standard features, limited, or other editions, homes have too many variations to ever accurately convey to a buyer through a website, VR, or photo tour, let alone account for personal preferences. One also rarely lives in their car, so size, amenities, and features are a lot more important!
Loving where you live
Not all real estate is about dollar amounts and market value. It is also about location and individual lifestyle appeal. Your Must See homes list may include a wide array of styles of homes, from a 4,000 sq foot executive home in Three Lakes of Campton Hills, for example, with a master spa bath and a deep soak jacuzzi, but may not be your top priority. Helping you narrow down the variety is an important part of your house hunt.
Perhaps looking at homes within walking distance to shopping or coffee in bustling downtown Geneva versus golf course living in Eaglebrook, is more your style. Classic Geneva retains many older homes, ones that may not even have closets in the bedrooms, but offer charming front porches, parlor rooms with hand scraped original wooden flooring, and stain-glass heirloom windows, may prove to be a priority.
From easy living ranch homes of Edgewater in Elgin, to new home construction at the Ponds of Stony Creek, home buyers will enjoy exploring everything the Fox Valley area has to offer. Top rated schools, unique shops, gourmet eateries, riverwalk festivals, and various community arts and activities are what draw many folks to the far western Chicago suburban area.
All real estate markets are local, so be sure to talk to someone who is a local expert. Comment below and tell me about your future home plans. I can help!
Jennifer Kinzle, Premier Agent
Charles Rutenberg Realty of Naperville, IL
Fox Valley Homes Specialist, 630-854-4360
About me: I take a deep dive into coffee, chocolate, and real estate in the St Charles and Fox Valley area. I enjoy blogging, selling homes, finding great investments, and helping buyers and sellers with all their questions.
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