How Do I Find a House?

There are numerous ways to find the “right” house for your needs.  However, most will prove ineffective and/ or inefficient.  Ineffective methods will wear you down because you will be given a great deal of information that will simply waste your time.  For example, do you want to see 50 houses when an effective search might mean seeing 10-12 houses?  Inefficient methods offer a different problem:  you may get the right information but the delivery is so complicated that, by the time you see the house that “seems” right for you, someone else has already gotten there and put it under contract.  Do you want to buy a house or to look at house after house?

Let’s discuss three “popular” ways to find the “right” house for you.

• Looking in the newspaper:  about 4% of the houses sold in a given year are found this way and very few houses ever get advertised.  It is very expensive but we do it because sellers expect it.  I have never been involved in a sale that in any way related to an ad in a newspaper.  So why do we really advertise?  To make our phone ring!  If this was not the case wouldn’t we simply put a picture ad in the paper and clearly display the address?  We do not include the address (some will omit the town and/ or the price) because we want you to call us.  This way, when you realize that the town, street or price aren’t for you, we can offer to help you with a more productive search!
• Driving around looking for “For Sale” signs:  about 7% of the houses sold in any given year are found this way and it is a beautiful thing when it happens.  One call, one showing and one sale!  However, if the purpose of a yard sign was to sell the house wouldn’t we post a sign with the price and features?  Why don’t we?  The answer is simple:  we want you to call us so that when you find out that the price or features do not match your needs, we can offer to help you with a more productive search!  Some areas do not allow signs and more and more sellers do not want them!  Your dream house may be on the market now while you drive past it day after day hoping that a sign will go up. 
• “Surf the Internet”:  while this would seem like a great idea, it is not.  True, over 80% of prospective buyers “surf” at some point but you still need to do much more to buy a house.  Frankly, the major problem is stale information.  Many displayed listings are already sold and a number of fresh, new listings are not even displayed!

So what is my point?  Too much of the buying process seems like a game:  buyers want information and agents want leads.  I don’t like games.  If you really want to get a list of available properties that match your needs (price, location, features, etc.) and if you want to get updates as new listings appear, some are reduced in price and others come back on the market, then you need to contact a Realtor who is a member of the Multiple Listing Service.  Our tools are both effective and efficient and our training should get you the results that you both expect and deserve!

For example, in addition to explaining the process to you and helping you every step of the way (there is a great deal of bad information out there), I can set up an automatic search for you (it is called “automatic email prospecting”).  Here is how it works:  every evening the multiple listing service compares new, reduced and “back on the market” listings with buyer profiles set up by agents.  If the search reveals any listing(s) that matches your profile, you will get an email with those matches.  All you have to do is check your email once a day to see if you like anything that you see.  This has to be easier than doing your own searches every day.  You never know what you might miss if you “take a day off”.

Ideally, you will drive past any listings you like first (you are really buying a neighborhood and a life style when you buy a house) and then call me to show you inside any that remain on “your list”.  I promise to set up your profile according to your wishes and will send you everything that matches!  If you are not ready to take this step, you can set up your own profile on this web site.  The search criteria are not as specific as the MLS but the process is automated.

Call me if you want to discuss this further.