You may have heard the phrase, “buyers are liars”. Nobody wants to be called a liar but often what we say we want and what we actually end up buying are completely different. This can even be the case when you’re shopping for a house.
Below is a story of one of my favorite clients:
John and Mary were two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. They had just gotten married and were excited to buy a house of their own. They’d already been pre-approved (which is a definite plus when buying a home) and couldn’t wait to start house-shopping.
They discussed the “must haves” for their future home: a nice safe neighborhood, a detached home (no condos or townhouses), and in-town close to their jobs, friends and church. They also needed to stay within their budget and didn’t really want a fixer home.
We walked through over 30 homes but many of them in the right price range needed some fixing or were in bad neighborhoods. After exhausting the market and not finding anything “great” I asked if I could show them something different.
John and Mary were open to the idea. We drove “30 Minutes” outside of the city to an “up and coming” area where I showed them a “townhouse” in a brand new development. In other words, not exactly what they said they wanted.
But once Mary stepped into the large master bedroom and saw the huge walk-in closet, she started jumping up and down with excitement. She couldn’t believe they could afford something this nice! And John liked the idea of buying a new home too, especially one with a two car garage.
After looking through several available units they picked the one they wanted. I could tell they were simply thrilled to have such a beautiful brand new townhouse!
Here’s the moral of the story:
Be flexible when you’re looking to buy a home. You may be surprised to find that something completely different than what you originally wanted, fits you perfectly.
Oh—and trust your agent, too. : )
Peter Stewart is a licensed real estate broker in Portland, Oregon as well as a frequent contributing writer for OHM. Please don't hesitate to contact him with any questions you may have about buying or selling a home in the Portland area.