I have met with a lot of home buyers lately who "can't make up their mind". They tell me that the more homes they see, the further they get from finding their dream home. Surprisingly, this is exactly what is happening. As an agent it is my job to prevent this from happening to my clients. I love working with these homes buyers, they have great talents. While some agents become frustrated, I recognize your talents as a great opportunity.
If you are one of "those" buyers, it is important for your agent to realize that your need for information is a talent! You have a talent for avoiding risk by researching. We have a tool for identifying our buyer's talents and needs. Early studies have shown that this assessment identifies which neural pathways your brain uses. If you are forced to use unnatural pathways, it takes you more energy to get things done. This is called stress. But when you are free to use your brain properly, you can get more accomplished without burning as much energy. This is called success. The assessment costs $50, but the information is invaluable when considering how much time we saved and how much happier our clients are with their home purchase.
After having one of our clients take the assessmentwe discovered what his brain needs and what his talents are. He was, by his own admission, one of "those" buyers. This particular client has a talent for creating systems and a need to gather information.
Before even coming to us he had researched available homes online, calculated various financial scenarios based on current mortgage rates and property values, and even practiced budgeting for mortgage payments of different amounts to see how much home he could afford. Now that he had the information he needed to feel comfortable purchasing a home we had to help him through the process of finding a home.
Knowing that he needs information we gave him an article to read called
the tyranny of choice. This article outlines how having too many options reduces your overall satisfaction with your final choice. Armed with this information he was ready for our number 1 rule:
Limit the number of homes you see.
At first this rule was frightening, how could he make an informed decision if he didn't see ALL available homes? Remember this Talent is a Need. The solution for this buyer was to focus his talent in the right direction. Instead of investigating homes looking for what he likes, we had him research his personal needs/wants. We then helped him find the homes online that matched that criteria. Then using his talent for creating systems, we asked him to categorize and organize the homes. By exploring the reasoning behind the system we were able to find what really mattered to him. In the amount of time it would have taken to view one home in person, we were able to eliminate many of the options. When it came time to actually see homes, we reminded him that each home you see decreases your overall satisfaction with the home you choose.
As I said at the beginning, buyers who view too many homes become less and less satisfied with the homes they see. This is because our natural tendency is to take every good quality from homes we see and combine them into a non-existent 'perfect' home. It is like our mind is saying, "If I just combine this kitchen, that closet, and that yard it'll be perfect." Then we go out in search of that 'perfect' combination. The more homes we see the more varied our image of the perfect home becomes. Then when we do choose a home we feel like we settled because we still have the image of all the good things in the other homes.
By demonstrating how seeing a lot of homes actually increases the risk of dissastisfaction we were able to help our buyer limit his options. Ultimately the process was less stressful, less time consuming, and he is completely satisfied with the home he purchased. This is just one way we are able to use our clients' talents, reduce their stress, increase their satisfaction, and help them have a successful home purchase.
About the Author:
Utah Dave - Daybreak Neighboorhood Expert and Local Resident
My friends nicknamed me Utah Dave in high school because they said it didn't matter where we went in Utah, I would know how to get there and who we needed to talk to. The name sticks today as UtahDave has formed into a professional real estate network of Neighborhood Experts all across the state. I live in Daybreak with my wife and 4 amazing children. I enjoy dancing (which is how I met my wife Dawn) as well as traveling, coaching, and learning.
