The
Showing
The
most important thing you can do at a showing is to step back and view the home
objectively. For your purposes, that house isn’t a home but a physical
dwelling: Four walls, floor and a roof. Realtors® say first-time buyers often
get caught up in the moment. There’s rush of attention thrust upon you, with
brokers willing to do almost anything to get you to like them and their
properties.
On
Your First Showing
On
your first showing, you’re looking for a home that meets your basic needs:
1. Is it in the right distance to work, church, family and friends?
2. Does it have enough bedrooms and bathrooms?
3. Is there enough storage space?
4. Is there parking?
5. Is it safe?
6. Is it in the right school district?
If the home meets the basic requirements, then start to look for how many wish
list and reality
check items it includes. If you don’t have these completed, now is a good
time.
Otherwise, here are a few things to consider:
1. Is there an extra bedroom and/or bathroom?
2. Is there a double vanity in the second bathroom?
3. Is there a garden or deck?
4. Is there a separate laundry room?
5. Is there a basement or crawl space? Is it convertible into usable space?
6. Is the garage attached?
7. Can the kids walk to school and after-school activities?
8. Is there a wood-burning fireplace or a gas fireplace?
9. What is the condition of the house, it’s appliances, roof, foundation,
walls, mechanicals, wiring, etc.?
Remember, start with the general items and then get more specific. If you’re
having trouble remembering the homes that had more of the features you want, or
are finding it difficult to rank the homes based on their amenities, use our Worksheets.
How
Can I Remember Each Home When I've Seen So Many?
It’s
difficult to keep all the homes straight in your head, particularly if you’ve
toured more than ten houses. Realtors® know that after seeing five to six
homes, buyers tend to start confusing properties, and you could easily visit 10
to 15 different open houses on a Sunday afternoon. New subdivision designers
know that prospective buyers might visit as many as 5 different subdivisions,
each with 5 to 8 model homes in a weekend. That’s 25 to 40 model homes to keep
straight – a virtually impossible task.
If you don’t create a method to the real estate madness, it will be soon. Here
are a few suggestions for keeping the houses organized in your mind:
1. Keep a written log.
You can include the date you saw the house, time of the showing, and who was
there (your broker, the seller broker, the owner, your mother, your
father-in-law, etc.) Purchase a spiral-bound notebook and keep a dated log of
each house you’ve seen.
2. Photocopy and enlarge a map of the areas in which you’re most
interested.
As you go through an area, use a yellow highlighter to mark the streets you’ve
looked at. Use a different-colored highlighter to mark the various homes
you’ve actually seen in the area. You’ll also want to mark the local
schools, shopping, transportation routes and houses of worship.
3. Put the listing sheet given to you to good use.
A listing sheet should contain all of the important information about a house,
including its list price, size, lot size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and
any extra amenities. Choose a few specific or spectacular or memorable things
(lime-green kitchen, beautiful greenhouse, attached four car garage, sauna in
basement, pine floors, plastic wood paneling in basement) about the house and
write them down on the back of the listing sheet. Draw out the floor plan.
Either staple these listing sheets into the spiral bound note book you bought,
or invest in a cheap 3-ring binder. Punch holes in your listing sheets and keep
them (by date). If a house sells, note on it the sales price. If you don’t
receive a listing sheet, create one based on what you saw during the showing.
4. Staple a completed wish list and reality checklist to the listing sheet.
It should help remind you what attracted you to the house in the first place.
5. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Invest in, or borrow, a Polaroid instant camera and a few packs of film. An
interior and exterior photo of each house will surely jog your memory later that
evening, or even a few weeks later. Be sure to mark the photo with the address
of each house. Better yet, staple it to your listing sheet. (Be sure to ask the
listing agent for permission to take an interior photo. You do not need
anyone’s permission to take an exterior photo of the home.
6. Video is even better.
If you take along your video camera, you have the opportunity to record your
thoughts and feelings about a house as you recording the interior and exterior
of the home, as well as the neighborhood. Also, you’ll get more of a sense of
what the house feels like with your video camera. (Again, ask permission.
Sometimes sellers are understandably nervous about someone having a video of the
interior contents of their home.)
7. Digital is the future and the future is now.
With a digital camera (they’re getting cheaper and better by the day), you can
actually download your photos onto your computer and keep your record of homes
viewed electronically. You’ll always know where the file is (especially if you
give it a name you’ll remember), and you’ll be able to send photos of the
homes you’ve seen to your relatives and friends. You can also pull photos of
the homes that you’ve seen down from the Internet.
8. Give everyone a chance to express his or her feelings.
If you’re buying the home with another person (spouse, significant other,
business partner, child, parent, friend, etc.), be sure the other people
involved have a chance to write down what they think about the house.
New Construction Tip: Many developers will put together information packets
that explain the concept behind the subdivision, and offer floor plans of the
various models offered for sale. Since there may be 4 to 8 different models (or
more) for sale, and you may see that many model homes built, it may be tough to
keep everything straight. Model home designers, also known as
“merchandisers,” go out of their way to create something memorable that will
also make you feel at home. By taking photos of the exterior and interior homes,
you’ll be able to personalize each information package. This should help you
keep the subdivisions – and their developers – apart.
The
Second Showing
Whether
or not you go for a second showing depends on your reaction to a home. If the
house appears to meet your needs and wants, and you like the home, your Realtor®
may set up a second showing.
Realtors® say you’ll know when you’re ready for a second showing. It
usually happens after you’ve seen four to five houses, and despite doing
everything suggested in the previous question for remember which house is which,
you can’t seem to place that one house you remember really liking. Or,
you’ll find that you still like a particular house better than all the others
you’ve seen and will want to go back for an extended look.
