According to historical real estate statistics and data, summer and spring see more real estate transactions than any other time of the year. Because of this, the months between March and October have been pinned the official real estate “buying season.” As the buying season begins its gradual decent into the real estate history books, many buyers have been left with the stark realization that they have yet to find the perfect home for their families.
With the real estate market fostering prime conditions for buyer’s to take advantage of motivated seller’s, many buyers can be perplexed as to why they haven’t found the “real estate gold” they have spent the entire buying season searching for.
A number of factors can contribute to a buyer having trouble finding the perfect home, especially in the midst of the busiest real estate transaction season of the year. These factors include limited school districts and neighborhoods, inflexible price ceilings and not being creative and resourceful in terms of how both you and your real estate professional search for your quest for the perfect home.
Below are three critical tactics that should be implemented if you have gone through the height of the real estate season without finding your perfect home.
Research and consider other possible school districts or neighborhoods
Which school district a home is in is one of the top selling and buying points with anyone that already has or plans to have children. School zoning is so important in fact, that often times families are willing to pay premium prices to ensure their kids are able to attend a respected and high achieving school. Families are not very quick to leave a home in a great school district, thus, if you are looking in those districts, it might be harder to come across your dream home simply due to a lack of people leaving the neighborhood. If you have gone through the entire real estate season and not found the perfect home, it might be advisable for you to do some serious research about other schools in your area that might be suitable for your children as well. Opening up your search criteria to include other school districts could set you up for finding incredible deals and possibly your new home.
Re-consider your budget
Are you sitting down? If not … make sure you are because the statistic we are about to discuss is so incredible that it is sure to shock you. Did you know that for every 10,000 dollars you spend when buying a house, it only (approximately) increases your month mortgage payment only extra 55 dollars per month? Often times, re-evaluating your price ceiling can open you up to an entire new selection of homes. Discuss your current price range with your real estate professional as they can guide and advise you as to what you can feasibly afford. Your real estate professional can also advise you as to what the extension of your current price ceiling will get you in terms of “more home” for your money and the number of homes it will put in your home search.
The open minded buyer gets the home
Initially, most home buyers are very specific about what they are looking for in a home, some buyers more so than others. While having high standards and specific search requirements are necessary and advisable for any buyer, sometimes, it might be necessary to re-evaluate your requirements. Although we would never recommend that a buyer compromise their standards in terms of quality, it is sometimes advisable to access the specific requirements that you are placing upon both your real estate professional and the entire home buying process. For example, if your initial search was so specific that your real estate professional was not able to show you many houses due to minor requirements such as a specific color of a house, type of flooring or other aspects of your search that should not necessarily be a deal breaker unless your heart is dead set on a particular requirement, perhaps those requirements should be re-considered. Take a moment to review your requirements and access which ones can stay and which ones can go.
In closing, as we approach the end of yet another real estate buying season, we recommend that any buyer that has not yet found the perfect home take a few moments and reflect upon their current real estate strategy. Having an open and candid conversation with your real estate professional about what is working and not working in your home search should be the first thing on your to do list. Re-evaluating what you are looking for in terms of a home can quite possibly open you up to a new world of real estate and possibly lead you to your dream home.
Give us a call at 770.405.0100 x 2 or email us at paige@paigeslyman.com