House Hunting is a lot Like Dating 2 of 2
We’ve helped a lot of people get to know homes, and in that time we’ve learned a lot. One theme that never fades is that you have to go with the flow. This is true in both dating and looking for a house. The dating scene and real estate market have a lot in common. In our last blog, we started our analogy about how these two life events have many parallel characteristics. In this week’s blog, we’ll continue this analogy, and we hope you are informed and amused. We are Robbie Breaux & Team and are Lafayette’s best real estate team for sellers and buyers.
Getting to Know Each Other
If you’ve made it past the first date, it’s time to get to know each other a bit better. With people, this is done with long talks where you compare notes on your pasts, your hopes, and your values. In the beginning, you might still be dating other people, narrowing down your search, until you decide on “the one.”
In home buying, this is the period when you find out if everything works as advertised. You may want to tour the home again and look more closely. You’ll want to try things out, flush the toilets, check out the water pressure, tour the basement, and peer into the attic.
Getting Closer to a Commitment
As time goes on, and you start to get serious about a partner, you need to meet their kids (if they have them), their parents, and their friends. You need to see them in different situations to see how they behave under a variety of circumstances. If you are discussing a future, you may want to enroll in premarital counseling to have some help delving into deeper matters, things you might not think of yourself.
With a house, you’ll want to do some broader research. Check out the neighborhood, the quality of the schools, the local medical facilities, and what public recreation facilities are in the area. This is also the time when you bring in the professionals. You get your mortgage lender involved, you get an inspector, and you get an official appraisal of the property to make sure everything is on the up and up.
Sealing the Deal
When you know the person you are seeing is the one for you, and you’ve done your due diligence, you can pop the question. You will want to make sure that all your ducks are in a row and that you have something to offer your beloved. When your proposal is accepted (fingers crossed) you can set a date for a wedding.
If you are the one waiting for the proposal, you are a bit at a disadvantage—you can hint, or you can break tradition and do the asking.
When you know the house you’ve been checking out is the one for you, you need to make an offer. This is also the time when you bring in the professionals. You get your mortgage lender involved, you get an inspector, and you get an official appraisal of the property to make sure everything is on the up and up. When your offer is accepted (fingers crossed) you’ll have a closing date set.
Heartache Happens
A proposal and a diamond ring don’t guarantee that you won’t be jilted at the altar. If you are, you just have to swallow your pride, wait a while, and try again.
As the seller of a house, you may end up going through the process with several potential buyers. For various reasons, deals fall through. Through no fault of their own, lenders don’t step up, or perhaps the inspection report came back with a deal-breaker. If the deal falls through, you have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and put the sign back in the yard.
If you want to work with the best real estate team in Lafayette, call Robbie Breaux & Team. We serve the entire Acadiana area and help both buyers and sellers reach their goals.
