When I made the comment that people are soft, it was because I was thinking about the guy who came to the open house and said he would have bought it…..except for the power lines.
If he had issues with the house, yard, etc. and the power lines were just one of the objections, then fine.
But are you going to pass on an otherwise perfect house because of power lines that are a 1/2 mile away? They don’t have flashing lights on them, and they are far enough away that you won’t hear any buzzing. With the hill behind them, they blend into the landscape – and once you move in and life takes over, you probably won’t notice them much at all.
Why should you compromise?
Because other people are compromising in order to actually buy something – it’s what happens once you realize that you’re probably not going to find a perfect house.
What if prices came down 10% to 20%? Wouldn’t that mean the chances would improve?
I guess yes, technically, the odds would be better. But if you did find a perfect house, you’d have to beat out the other buyers to win it, which will probably take over-bidding by 10% or more.
Look at the featured La Costa house of the week. It didn’t have a full bathroom downstairs to go with the 4th bedroom, but that didn’t stop ten people from making an offer. Or think of the buyers of my $7.75M listing in La Jolla. They had to live with three staircases and a one-car garage and they still paid $800,000 over the list price.
Why compromise? Because it shortens your timeline, and makes the process more manageable.
If you are looking for any reason NOT to buy a house, then you are one of the non-compromisers – which is fine. But have you noticed that every house seems to have an issue, and there is no telling when you will find the perfect home….if ever? You may never buy a house!
Instead of looking for one reason NOT to buy, be intent on finding reasons TO buy the house.
Know that every house is probably going to need at least $25,000 to $50,000 in upgrades, so look for those first, and get them out of the way. Then if you can find a house that just has more positives than negatives, you’re doing good. If positives outweigh the negatives by 3-to-1 or more, you got a winner!
There is also the lady a few years ago who told me that my open house was perfect for her, but she couldn’t buy it because she knew her dog wouldn’t like it.
JtR: Did he say that?
Lady: Well no, but I know.
JtR: I’d like to have a word with him. Can you bring him over? All the other dogs I’ve talked to have all said that if you just got them a lady dog, they’d live in any yard you got!
This is interesting commentary that extends well beyond just real estate. Being around genuinely optimistic people is a much better life than being surrounded by constant doubters.
I agree – thanks Sirelton!
Or as someone likes to say “Money will fix anything!” Life is full of compromises and you just have to draw up your own “weighted” list of what you’re willing to compromise on and what you won’t compromise on and go for it!
Life is too short to wait for 100% perfection!
Just get good help!
Folks. Is your spouse a 10 or did you settle? Nothing wrong with a cool 8 + chick.
I’ll do one better:
We thought our first house was perfect. Then, the pandemic hit and that perfect house was suddenly full of negatives. So, we sold it and found a newer “perfect” house.
Folks. Is your spouse a 10 or did you settle? Nothing wrong with a cool 8 + chick.
And don’t all spouses offer a unique set of variables that might have different appeal to different people?
Of course, one should not compromise when selecting a realtor. Results could be life altering.
Absolutely on unique variables! Spouses. Homes. Colleges.
For example, I like Spanish style homes. Some people hate them and want a bland millennial science lab looking boring home. Whatever floats your boat. If you don’t like Spanish style, don’t buy my home. One that does like it will love it.