How to Narrow Down Your Choices when Buying a House?

Go over the list you’ve worked up carefully with your agent so she can enter your preferences in the multiple-listing computer. Matching your criteria against the thousands of homes on the market will take only a few minutes. The resulting printout should contain only those homes in your price range, areas of interest, and with the amenities you selected.

How many homes do you need to look at? On the average, most buyers narrow the list down to between five and twelve homes if they know what they want. Still, it’s possible that the first, second, or third home you see could be love at first sight. In that case, it’s a good idea to accelerate the search and eliminate the rest of the homes on your list. Also have your agent update the list for any similar homes to the one you like that may have just come on the market. If the computer comes up with no comparable homes, then you’ll probably want to write an offer ASAP!

Suppose you find the perfect area but no homes are for sale? This can be due to a strong seller’s market or your timing is just off. When this happens, here are two strategies that have proven successful.

1. Have your realtor enter your preferences in the MLS (multiple listing service) computer’s prospect function. Your home specifications will be matched automatically by the computer to new listings as they come on the market each day.
2. If you’ve wondered what it’s like to be a politician, you can do like they do and either phone or knock on doors in the area you’re interested in (weekends work the best). Put together a simple flyer and leave it with everyone you talk to. When homeowners find out there’s a qualified buyer looking in the area, decisions to sell can happen quickly.

Ryan and Sue went this route when they wanted a home in a certain school district and neighborhood, but none were on the market. Being resourceful, they put together a flyer with a picture of their family and a short letter outlining why they wanted to live in the area and asking anyone who was thinking of selling to call them.

A week later, after passing out about 75 flyers, Ryan and Sue got a call from a couple about to retire who had been thinking of downsizing and moving to a warmer state. The flyer prompted the couple to decide that opportunity was knocking and now was the time to move. On inspecting the home, Ryan and Sue found it was just what they had been looking for, and a deal was put together.