Go With Your Gut
Buying a house is just like any other important decision you'll make in your life. Yes, it's important to do the research, and it's important to explore your options, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is to go with your gut. When you find the right house for you, you'll know it. Don't hesitate. Think about it this way: when you found the right man or woman for you, did you say, "I think you're the right one, but I'd like to go date 10 more guys just to make sure"? Do you think he'd wait around if you did? I think not.
The past few days that I've spent with my current clients have reminded me a lot of my own home-buying experience. Just as I had, they spent months looking at properties online in all different areas, planning where they would buy, when they buy, and what they would buy. They had their must-have lists, their budgets, and their timeline. And then... an opportunity presented itself. They had to react quickly or risk losing the "dream home". They may have had to scramble at times to get things together, but they did it. Everything fell into place. They didn't hesitate. And they made the right decision. Some might even say it was "meant to be".
My husband and I bought our current home before I became a real estate agent, but my passion for this industry was already there. We were saving up to make the leap from townhouse to single family, and at that time, we felt like we had a good 8-12 months left of savings to go before we would be "ready". However, I was still spending hours online researching and looking at listings. I was careful not to look at anything above my price range, for fear I would fall in love with something I couldn't afford, but I guess I never thought about what would happen if I fell in love with something I could afford. Well... I found out.
One day I came across a listing I hadn't seen before. The house had been on the market, but the price was just reduced and now fell within my search parameters. It was perfect. (Or at least as perfect as it gets when you have a budget!) It had everything we were looking for and more. It needed a few updates but nothing substantial, and we aren't afraid of renovations. I drooled over the pictures for a few minutes and then moved on to something else. Problem was, for the next couple days, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Finally, I decided to show my husband. He thought it looked nice but couldn't understand why I was showing it to him because we weren't ready to buy for another year. (If you were to ask him about it now, he may say that this is where I started to "brain-ninja" him.) So I asked him, "how do you know we're not ready?" Of course, in an ideal world, we would have had more money saved up, but that didn't mean we couldn't, right?
Well, after a call to our mortgage broker, who told us we could do it, I convinced my husband that we should just go see it. He agreed and so did our wonderful agent (aka: my mother-in-law!) I knew before we even got there that it was the one, but of course I had to be sure. We saw a few houses before we toured "the one", and nothing impressed us. When we got there, we both loved it. We said we'd go home and talk about. Well, being the wonderful agent she is, my mother-in-law called the listing agent to let him know we may be interested. That's when we found out there was another offer on the table. Well, no more time to think about it. We had to act fast. We put in our best offer, and we got the house. I haven't regretted it for a second.
Even with the hundreds, if not thousands, of houses I've looked at online or in person since then, I have yet to find a house that I would choose over my own. So I know I made the right decision. I'm confident my clients will feel the same way after they've been in their new home for 2 years also.
Well, all this reminiscing is nice, but I must have a point, right? Of course I do. While I would never recommend that my clients buy a house before they are ready (both financially and emotionally), sometimes things just fall into place for a reason. (New regulations make it nearly impossible to buy if you're not financially ready anyway.) If it's right, it's right. If it's meant to be, you'll find a way to make it happen. When your gut says "this is the house for me", listen to it and don't look back.
The past few days that I've spent with my current clients have reminded me a lot of my own home-buying experience. Just as I had, they spent months looking at properties online in all different areas, planning where they would buy, when they buy, and what they would buy. They had their must-have lists, their budgets, and their timeline. And then... an opportunity presented itself. They had to react quickly or risk losing the "dream home". They may have had to scramble at times to get things together, but they did it. Everything fell into place. They didn't hesitate. And they made the right decision. Some might even say it was "meant to be".
My husband and I bought our current home before I became a real estate agent, but my passion for this industry was already there. We were saving up to make the leap from townhouse to single family, and at that time, we felt like we had a good 8-12 months left of savings to go before we would be "ready". However, I was still spending hours online researching and looking at listings. I was careful not to look at anything above my price range, for fear I would fall in love with something I couldn't afford, but I guess I never thought about what would happen if I fell in love with something I could afford. Well... I found out.
One day I came across a listing I hadn't seen before. The house had been on the market, but the price was just reduced and now fell within my search parameters. It was perfect. (Or at least as perfect as it gets when you have a budget!) It had everything we were looking for and more. It needed a few updates but nothing substantial, and we aren't afraid of renovations. I drooled over the pictures for a few minutes and then moved on to something else. Problem was, for the next couple days, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Finally, I decided to show my husband. He thought it looked nice but couldn't understand why I was showing it to him because we weren't ready to buy for another year. (If you were to ask him about it now, he may say that this is where I started to "brain-ninja" him.) So I asked him, "how do you know we're not ready?" Of course, in an ideal world, we would have had more money saved up, but that didn't mean we couldn't, right?
Well, after a call to our mortgage broker, who told us we could do it, I convinced my husband that we should just go see it. He agreed and so did our wonderful agent (aka: my mother-in-law!) I knew before we even got there that it was the one, but of course I had to be sure. We saw a few houses before we toured "the one", and nothing impressed us. When we got there, we both loved it. We said we'd go home and talk about. Well, being the wonderful agent she is, my mother-in-law called the listing agent to let him know we may be interested. That's when we found out there was another offer on the table. Well, no more time to think about it. We had to act fast. We put in our best offer, and we got the house. I haven't regretted it for a second.
Even with the hundreds, if not thousands, of houses I've looked at online or in person since then, I have yet to find a house that I would choose over my own. So I know I made the right decision. I'm confident my clients will feel the same way after they've been in their new home for 2 years also.
Well, all this reminiscing is nice, but I must have a point, right? Of course I do. While I would never recommend that my clients buy a house before they are ready (both financially and emotionally), sometimes things just fall into place for a reason. (New regulations make it nearly impossible to buy if you're not financially ready anyway.) If it's right, it's right. If it's meant to be, you'll find a way to make it happen. When your gut says "this is the house for me", listen to it and don't look back.
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