Finding the "one right house"

January 2007

Finding the "one right house"

Needle in a haystack image. Original at http://btr.michaelkwan.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/needleinahaystack.jpg

A needle in the haystack?
If I learned anything in my first fourten years in the real estate business, it was two indisputable facts. One was that there is something available for just about every taste and all pocket books in the Niagara Region. The other was that I wasn't really cut out to work effectively for sellers. I was far more sympathetic -- and indeed emphathetic -- to what buyers were interested in.
Four years ago, I put these facts to the test and struck out on my own as what's called an Exclusive Buyer Broker. This means that I don't -- and, so help me, won't -- list anything any longer. Many of my readers already know this, but it seems worth mentioning that the move, in itself, is something akin to the title of this paragraph.
There is in fact a wide range of choices open to newly licensed agents and it often takes time to realize which is the most advisable, the one that best fits in with his or her beliefs and ability -- or inability -- to work with people who seek out the real estate industry's services. Moreover, the emphasis in almost all brokerage companies is to NOT do what I finally decided upon. The name of the game, as the gurus put it, is listings -- Listing to Live. Selling to Survise, which I finally elected to do, is considered fraught with risk.
However, if it took me longer to determine what I ought to focus on than it perhaps should have done, my only excuse is the enjoyable relationships I had with my office colleagues and the unquestioned consensus that my thoughts of going all against the norm were ill advised.
But hah, I should have made the move ages ago!

What needle, what haystack?
I must admit that listing a house and finding a buyer for it is, in relative terms at least, a straightforward proposition. The ways of it are known and understood to the nth degree. It's been done hundreds of thousands of times over the years by an extremely long list of agents -- and it's going to go on being done, regardless of the ups and downs of the market.
It's also going to continue despite the advances of technology, such as the growing reliance on the Internet by people looking for something to buy and the worrywarting by some agents that the phones will stop ringing or the e-mails will dry up because buyers don't need the help they used to require.
But the need does remain. There's still a needle and there's still a haystack. The "one right house" is seldom staring a purchaser in the face, assuming -- and, if you'll allow me to say so, it is an assumption -- that buyers know what they want.
In other words, are they looking for a house or, come to think of it, are they looking for a house?!!
You've perhaps heard the common view that Buyers are Liars. It isn't without some truth, either. Many a person who talks to an agent about wanting a backsplit semi in the South End ends up buying a 2-storey Townhouse in the North End.
Thus, the needle and thus the haystack.
But finding the one right house is only a process of elimination. Or, if I can again quote what a favourite prospect of mine said some months ago: you gotta look at the Bad, the Good, and the Ugly.

Defining the two
All right, what IS the needle and how buried in the haystack IS it likely to be?
The answers to both lie, as I've increasingly come to realize, in a fairly long list of questions. As agenta are wont to say, it's all a matter of Qualifying the Prospect.
Part of the problem, though -- and I'm undoubtedkly sticking my neck with this opinion -- is that the industry's focua on selling listings gets in the way of pulling back for a thoroughgoing and objective consideration of the entire market. The one right house IS out there, but the need is to get a clearcut definition of it and for a sufficiently extensive awareness of where it's likely to be -- or, if you wish,a recognition of where the haystack itself is going to be found.

Your finances Are you going to be house rich but bank account poor? It's advisable to have a cushion against the unexpected, the ability to recover from the likes of employment cutbacks, the room to manage adjustments if the future proves to be less optimistic thany yuou ned it to be
Your lifestyle Where are you today? Where will you be tomorrow? Upsizing and upgrading make sense for a growing family and an increase in prosperity, just as downsizing allows empty nesters to cut back on house chores (including, the ways knees can give out, the amount of gardening that's required). But how about stairs or the lack of them? How much additional or less space do you need? Do you do lots of entertaining? Would an office be useful or even essential?
The location Town or country? Proximity -- or not -- to schools, shopping, churches, medical attention, public transport, nightlife, sport facilities -- all the sort of things you want OR can do without? And how safely can you leave the place unoccupied because you're interested in doing some travelling? Moreover, how about the neighbourhood? Is it improving or declining? How long will you want to live in the house? Will it resell easily enough if or when you've had enough of it?
Risk tolerance This needs to be addressed if you're looking at an invesmtent, although it can also apply if you're buying a house that needs work. What exactly is your purpose? Are you in a hurry to make a profit or can you wait to realize it? And what expertise and experience do you or should you have in order to be sure of reaching your goal? Not the least, to what extent can you accept a loss if, despite your best efforts, this is the outcome (perhaps because the market suddenly shifted or your optimism was misplaced)?

Enter the Buyer Agent
These comments may seem more self-serving than I intend. I am, of course, convinced that having an agent committed to your best interests is much wiser than relying on someone whose primary objercrtive is to make a sale (and the sooner and the easier the better). Neverthelsss, I'm simply sharing what I've increasingly come to realize is the significant approach that a Buyer Agent (and never mind an Exclusive one) brings to the buyer's table.
I'll admit to being extremely comfortable with the role I've adopted and I'm earning more than I ever did when I was trying (but invariably failing) to scare up as many listings as I needed to do. But I'm also greatly encouraged by the growing acceptance within the real estate industry -- not to mention on the part of the public it tries to serve -- that prospective purchasere are entitled to be treated more equitably than they often were in the past.
We've yet to see Buyer Agency become a point of law and I'm not sure that it ever will be. But it's certainly no longer a case of Caveat Emptor. The Canadian real Estate Assocation, as well as the Real Estate Counceil of Ontario, now see no harm in letting the Seller Beware if the playing field is more uneven than it deserves to be.
It's an attitude that I heartily endorse!

So with an apology if I'm somewhat on a soapbox this time, but with my warmest regards as always.