Neighborhoods Come First, Homes Come Second
Posted by Todd Covington on Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 at 1:03am.
If I have seen it once, I've seen it a hundred times. A prospective buyer falls in love with a home based on professional, glossy Internet pics, requests a viewing of the home (sometimes on VERY short notice), and then refuses to get out of the car when they arrive at the house, because he or she doesn't like the neighborhood.
For the sanity of all parties involved, please don't ever ask your Realtor to schedule a showing of a home unless you have already seen -- and approved of -- the neighborhood. If you don't like the neighborhood, you are wasting everybody's time, including your own.
It sounds like the most obvious thing in the world, but apparently it's not, because we keep running into this problem. No matter how much you think you want to see a house, you're not going to buy it unless you like the neighborhood. Period. I promise. Flaws in a house can generally be fixed. Whatever flaws you find in a neighborhood generally can not be fixed, at least not for a very long time.
And, remember, there might not be anything wrong with the neighborhood other than the fact you don't care for it. Tastes differ. I have seen a neighborhood like Habersham knock a buyer's socks off, and prompt a buyer to spend 30 percent more than they had budgeted. I have also heard buyers say Habersham looks a little too "Stepford Wives" for their tastes.
It's all a matter of personal opinion.
And, as always, remember that a seller may spend two hours preparing their home for a showing. Let's show them some courtesy by not asking them to devote this time if we are not 100 percent sure we want to view the house.
For the sanity of all parties involved, please don't ever ask your Realtor to schedule a showing of a home unless you have already seen -- and approved of -- the neighborhood. If you don't like the neighborhood, you are wasting everybody's time, including your own.
It sounds like the most obvious thing in the world, but apparently it's not, because we keep running into this problem. No matter how much you think you want to see a house, you're not going to buy it unless you like the neighborhood. Period. I promise. Flaws in a house can generally be fixed. Whatever flaws you find in a neighborhood generally can not be fixed, at least not for a very long time.
And, remember, there might not be anything wrong with the neighborhood other than the fact you don't care for it. Tastes differ. I have seen a neighborhood like Habersham knock a buyer's socks off, and prompt a buyer to spend 30 percent more than they had budgeted. I have also heard buyers say Habersham looks a little too "Stepford Wives" for their tastes.
It's all a matter of personal opinion.
And, as always, remember that a seller may spend two hours preparing their home for a showing. Let's show them some courtesy by not asking them to devote this time if we are not 100 percent sure we want to view the house.