Services for buyers

Help negotiating the terms of sale, price negotiations, paperwork, comparative analysis, etc. trail distantly behind the all-important need to find the right home.

You might be surprised to know that in nearly a decade, the answer to this question has not budged at all. In 2013, 50% of buyers responded with “help finding the right home to purchase”. In 2021, that figure was 51%.

Of course, home search sites have been around for a while now, but you would think with all the improvements sites like Zillow, Redfin, Homes.com, and others have made to their graphical user interfaces, that eventually people would feel confident about finding the right home on their own.

So, why do so many people still feel like they need help from an expert to find a home when they seemingly have everything they need at their fingertips?

There are a lot of reasons:

Average homeownership in the US is 8 years. If I played the piano once every 8 years, I probably wouldn’t be very proficient at it. First time home buyers always need assistance, but even “experienced” home buyers need help. A Realtor like me sells anything from 1-6+ homes a month. Even if you spent dozens of hours reading online about buying and selling homes, you simply can’t replace the breadth of knowledge that consistent, hands-on experience provides.

Finding the right home is about more than spending hours on Zillow or Redfin and attending open houses (although that can be important when getting prepared for the home search process). Even during times when inventory is tight, there are a ton of options to consider. A good real estate agent focuses the search, digs up details about the home that might be deal breakers before even seeing it, and saves time and stress while honing the search criteria.

Along those lines… home shopping can be fun, but many people are surprised at how quickly they can burn out on the process. A Realtor will help guide the search and give you the best chance at success. That might come in the form of pointing buyers toward homes they have a chance at winning in competitive situations and providing the insight needed to craft a potentially winning offer. Or, pointing out potentially expensive deferred maintenance to buyers before going into contract and spending a lot of money on inspections only to result in a termination when the buyers realize the home needs too much work.

Research. Not every Realtor puts in as much effort on this as me, but it’s also one reason that I have such a low sale-fail rate. I don’t wait until after an offer is accepted to research a property. I try to find out as much as possible BEFORE placing an offer. This includes multiple conversations with the listing agent to glean everything I can from them, asking questions, requesting disclosures (and reading them!), looking up various info online including permits, flood zone, historic districts, verifying schools (never trust listing data on this!), etc.

CMA. Nearly all Realtors will tell you that they’ll work up a comparable market analysis for you, but often this comes in the form of going on a website, entering the address, and accepting whatever price range the AVM (automated valuation mechanism) spits out. Finding the right home includes making smart decisions about value. A good Realtor will dig deep into comparables to see if the considered offer price matches the value of the home.

Pointing out limiting factors. While the roof over your head should not primarily be considered an investment… no one wants to be underwater on their home. If you’re shopping during a hot market, you still want to consider what the demand on the home might be in a stable or down market. I’m diligent about pointing out aspects of the home that might make it difficult to sell in the future.

Most importantly… buyers need someone that is honest and vocal about their analysis of the home. A good Realtor is NOT just a door opener. We’re housing experts with loads of experience to share with our buyers to help them make good buying decisions.

I’m a very flexible person and believe in a communicative, collaborative relationship with my clients. Remember, shopping for a home is a project and I’m here to help manage the process for you!

The first step is to interview (the initial consult) and select a Realtor, followed quickly by the pre-approval process. I can help guide you to some amazing lenders and give you some tips to procure both the best service and rate. But, if you’ve already got a lender selected, that’s great, too. I’ve worked with many different lenders.

Once the fun of providing all your financial documents in triplicate and two pints of blood to your selected lender is out of the way, we can start shopping for homes! I have tools that allow me direct access into the MLS, but I understand that many buyers have already been window shopping on their favorite search site before they’ve contacted me. I’ve used them all and we can communicate about various listings by sharing links, MLS numbers, addresses, or any other identifier you’d like.

With any listings we decide are worth seeing, I’ll send over the MLS data sheets. This is important to look at as it’s unfiltered data. There are hundreds of multiple listing services around the country, and they all work a little different. The search sites sometimes have difficulty translating certain data which can lead to errors. So, it’s a good idea to look closely at the data sheet I send to make sure the home is everything you thought it was. I’ve frequently seen bathroom count, presence of AC, school districts, and even map location be wildly incorrect on some of the various search sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com, etc.

When we see a home in person (or through a video tour, more about that later), I’m spending just as much time peering into every nook and cranny as you (if not more!). I’m running through a list in my head looking at all the systems that I can see such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing, etc. I’m checking out the foundation, roof, flooring, siding, and condition of cosmetics. I’m thinking about how the house is situated on the lot, if there are any issues with the landscaping, does it look like there might be any negative slope towards the house or other drainage concerns (we ARE in a very wet environment and water is always top of mind!), what the condition of the neighboring homes is, etc.

There’s a lot to see and often we’ve only got 30 minutes max!

While I’m doing this, your job is to think about whether or not the layout, condition, and location of the home might be a fit for you. If it is, I’ll delve into my thoughts and concerns so that you can factor that into your decision-making process.

Then we rinse and repeat until we find the right one! Once you’ve located a home that you’re interested in, I’ll do my research to learn as much about the home as possible. Then we’ll collaborate on an offer strategy.

I must admit that my out of state clients are some of my favorites. This is the opposite of many of my colleagues that dread helping people house shop sight-unseen.

Why do I enjoy these? It’s because I love recording the video tours. The eye for detail necessary to do this in a way that makes buyers comfortable with the purchase of a home they’ve never seen is a challenge, and I love it.

For my clients that are wanting/needing to purchase before moving here, I take a lot of time during our initial consult, and sometimes a subsequent meeting, to ask a lot of questions so that I have a clear understanding of what is important. I’m the eyes, ears, and even nose of my clients in this case, so I need to know lots of specifics.

For instance, I’ve had buyers that are perfectly fine with standard or shallow stair risers but steep stairs were an absolute no-go.

I’ve had plenty of cat/dog allergy concerns. Fortunately, I have a super-sniffer and I always note everything I smell on my walk-through videos.

How light moves through the home is a frequent concern from buyers. As is ceiling height (I carry a laser measuring device with me at all times), bathroom layout, storage space, etc.

Whatever the case, when I’m helping my out-of-state buyers, I’m walking through the home with my usual internal checklist PLUS all the important criteria in mind.

Sometimes I’m able to do live walk-through tours with my out-of-state buyers. But, usually, I’ll take detailed, recorded walk-through videos. This often works better than a live tour because the cellular signal in most locations around the Portland metro isn’t the best and a live tour just ends up grainy and not very useful. With a recorded video, my buyers can watch it in HD as many times as they want and formulate questions based off the tour. I can always go back for a live tour or another recording if needed. But, you’ll find that’s rare! At any given time as much as half or even more of my buyer clients are searching from afar and I am very experienced at recording these walk-through videos.

As always, I’m flexible and we can put together the system that works best for you.

In some cases, once a home with potential is found, buyers will fly into town for a viewing prior to placing an offer. Often, this isn’t feasible due to how quickly many homes sell. It’s up to you to determine if seeing the home in person prior to writing an offer makes sense. This is obviously ideal, but I’d say about 75% of the time, buyers will place an offer prior to seeing it themselves.

If you’re not able to see the home in person initially, I strongly suggest viewing it first-hand during the Seller’s Property Disclosure review period and/or during the home inspection. This is the most common way to go through the process. It gives you the opportunity to terminate the transaction if you change your mind when you see it in person without undue risk to your earnest money.

I’ve never had a buyer change their mind, though! I’m sure it will happen eventually, but, so far, once my clients see the home in person, they find that it’s exactly what they expected from my video tour and feedback.

I’ve also worked with buyers to purchase homes completely sight-unseen, all the way past closing. I will admit that can be a little stressful, even for me!

Whatever process works best for you, the important thing is that I will take the time and care necessary to make SURE that you have all the information needed to make a good purchase decision.