THE HOME BUYER CONSULTATION
Consultations are commonplace in many industries for one reason: when you hire someone to work with you, it is essential that you all get along, communicate well with each other, and are able to clearly share your thoughts, ideas, needs and wants. For example, you would never hire a contractor to renovate your home or a designer to plan your kitchen without meeting them first and feeling very confident that they know exactly what you’re looking for.
Home Buyer Consultations are not commonplace in the real estate industry, and when we say home buyer consultation, we mean exactly that. It’s not an awkward meeting where we force a contractual obligation on you. And it’s not a back and forth over email. Its a meeting for us to get to know each other better and to determine if we want to work together moving forward. You can’t really get a sense about someone until you meet them in person, so a consultation is essential to building the proper working relationship.
What will the Home Buying Consultation Cover?
- How We work with Clients. We work on a foundation of open communication & feedback. The most rewarding and critical aspect of working with buyers is to learn who you are beyond the wish list; to get to know your personality and how you tick. Whether you are introverted, extroverted, patient, short-tempered, impulsive or pensive, this all impacts how to best communicate with you and how we can create a successful experience for you. We ask a lot of questions as we view homes because we need to have open dialogue and build trust. You can’t hurt our feelings and your feedback is what enables us to filter your options and determine which of your priorities rise to the top.
- What Kind of Buyer Are You? This is where we talk about your goals, needs and wants. Some people are very focused and don’t waiver. Some people change their minds a lot. Some people are buying for long term gain and some care more about a pretty home with immediate gratification. Some want a home that will suit them for 25 years, and others are willing to move in 5 when their lifestyle changes. We will assess all of this and the best part – you can also change your goals as you go along. We don’t hard sell you on the 3rd house we see because this is a process, and often priorities clarify as we view the first handful of homes.
- How do You Like to Talk? Many of our clients love to communicate over text, and this works fine. If you prefer the phone or email, no problem at all. For the most part, we like to communicate with you the way you are most comfortable, but whichever method you prefer, you must be available. Once we have really established what you want and are ready to buy, we often have to jump on opportunities that come up. We need to be a tight team and the closer to buying a home we are, the more we will be talking, likely several times per day.
- The Buying Process. A big part of the home buying consultation is that we will talk about the buying process, of what you should expect during the home search and how everything goes. Knowledge is power and spending on this will make you more confident once we get started. At this time we will answer any and all questions you may have but also check out our Buyer FAQ section that answers many of the questions have been asked over the years.
- The Home Viewing. After covering all of those points, we will ask you if you feel that we are communicating well and if you are confident that we can do the best job for you. If yes, then we will set up a time to go view a home, with no obligation, so that you can see us in action and see how we work. I think it’s only fair that you get a sense of this before you sign a contract.
After the home viewing together, we will then review the buyer representation paperwork, and all of your options. We firmly believe that a successful experience is all about setting out clear expectations and exceeding them, and communication is critical to making this happen.
