The answer may surprise you given the volume of questions we get asked daily, over and over again by clients. But my confession is the question I hate the most is…”what do YOU think of this house?”
Let me explain.
In all honesty…I don’t really care what you buy. I don’t care if it’s a house, a townhouse, a condo, new, old, white, black, purple, tear down or a mansion. I. Don’t. Care. What I do care about is that YOU LOVE IT. That YOU are happy with it and that you can picture building a life in the property. I think my clients hate when I say this, but it’s true…i’m not the one that’s going to be living there!!
Think about it – I live in a condo in Arlington…I live near a fire station and I have 1 parking spot. You might shudder at the thought of that. I have a balcony. You might want a big yard. We all have different lifestyles, and I, as a licensed Realtor(R), am no different. If I asked YOU what you thought, you may tell me I’m crazy! But for me, a condo works.
As a real estate professional, here are the things I CAN guide you on and issues on which you want my opinion:
1. Price
2. Resale Potential
3. Property Condition (i’m not a licensed home inspector, but I do know what may be a red flag on an appraisal, or something that appears to be an obvious problem – ex. mold, water damage, etc.)
4. Keeping you in line with what we initially identified as your ‘wants v. needs’
Please don’t mistake this for apathy. If you ask almost ALL of my past and current clients, they will tell you I care (a lot). But mostly I care that you’re happy with what you purchase, the price you pay, the customer service you receive during and after the transaction.
I love this post. I absolutely agree! I only want my clients to be happy with their purchase and with their service from me. I don’t have to live in the house, my client DOES!
Excellent philosophy. I would definately retain you as my next realtor, except I love my Clarendon house so much I can’t see me ever moving ! Maybe I’ll see you at Northside Social though 🙂