Finding the home of your dreams
At this point, you’re probably excited and full of optimism. You’ve been pre-approved for the mortgage loan, printed out the checklist and have (hopefully) started to complete it. Now comes the most important step. Finding the right home!
Before we start, make a list of your top 4-6 needs and a list of your top 4-6 wants. Examples of needs are:
- 3 bedrooms (because we have 2 kids and they will drive us crazy if they have to share a room)
- Specify certain school district(s)
- Yard for the dog (because you’re sick of walking the dog in the rain)
- Central AC (because everyone hogs the window unit and blocks it from cooling that part of the house)
- Updated and move-in ready (because you don’t even own a hammer)
Those are the things you absolutely cannot live without. You won’t even see a property unless it has every one of the above items. Get it?
Then, make a list of your wants. Examples of wants are:
- Hardwood floors throughout
- Master bathroom with two sinks
- Updated kitchen with granite and stainless steel
- Wood-burning fireplace
- Rainbows over the home, flying unicorns, and allergy-free kittens in every room
These are the things you’d really like but can live without if needed.
Once you’ve made your lists, email them to me. That way when you see a property you love with the kitchen of your dreams, I can verify it in fact does not have central AC so we don’t waste time seeing it. Once that’s done, I’ll set you up for auto search on the MLS (multiple listing service). This means that you’ll get an email with all of the new properties that have come on the market matching your criteria, as well as any price changes that move homes into your price range that were previously outside your budget. It’s the best way to find a great home!
When the email comes in, we need you to:
- Check the MLS email daily (or if you chose real time delivery) and review all of the properties we’ve sent you that day. Mark properties you want to see as Interested. That tells me to go ahead and set up a showing. Properties you want to think about longer, mark as Maybe. Properties you definitely don’t like mark as Not Interested. If you have any questions about a particular property, write those questions in the Comments field for that property. I monitor those sections and will get answers to those questions to you.
- If there’s something you want to see, shoot me a quick email letting me know when you’re available and what you want to see. That way I can set up the showings. Keep in mind that properties are usually available to be seen Mon–Fri from 9am–8:00pm and Saturday and Sunday from Noon-7:30pm. Sometimes sellers will allow us to view a property outside of those hours, but it’s up to the individual seller. Also, during the spring and summer, great properties sell in 3-4 days, so it’s important that you review the MLS email daily so we can jump on a great property as soon as you see it.
- Once I know when you’re available, we’ll set up the showings and email you where we are meeting and when.
- Remember to wear comfortable slip on shoes for showings, as sometimes we’ll need to take them on and off going into a property.
- I’ll bring printouts for each property so there’s no need for you to bring anything other than a notepad and snacks or drinks if you think you might get hungry.
While you’re looking at the MLS feeds each day, I’ll also be networking our contacts to sometimes find you homes before they go on the market.
At this point, there should be no need for you to continue to look on other sites such as Zillow, Trulia, etc., as all of those properties should be showing up in your MLS feed with the most current information. If one isn’t on there for some reason, let me know so we can tweak the search parameters of your MLS feed.
Now on to the showings! Read this great article from REALTOR® Magazine about how many showings it usually takes to find THE ONE.