Stalking Is Not Acceptable, Except…

When you look up Stalking in the dictionary you will find various definitions. But the context I’m referring to is, “to pursue obsessively,” or “to track every move.”

People, in general, tend to be All In or All Out. They get excited to purchase, go see everything that’s on the market but do not find anything they love right off, and then get discouraged and are all out. Or worse yet, because they are so excited to purchase, they buy something they don’t love.

Ask Nagel Rule # 1:   When buying real estate, only buy what you love!

Ask Nagel Rule #2-10:   See Rule #1

I just feel that where you live is so important to your happiness, physical health, and even your financial health that you should be as patient and as diligent as necessary to find something that you love. I don’t want to close a deal for a client unless they love it, and would rather wait for the right deal to come around as I want my clients to be really excited. Granted it might take more work, but I’d rather do that work and have my client become a “Raving Fan” of me and my business. This makes me feel good and is smart long-term business to boot.

So the ideal situation is a client that has the flexibility to buy WHEN they want. Typical scenarios include living at home, leasing when you know you can sublease, or people that have the financial capacity to purchase a new property before selling their current property. In this ideal situation the buying process is as follows:

• Meet for a Buyer Counseling session to talk about Short Sales, Foreclosures, Split Face Block, Budgets, Timing, and of course talking thorough all the purchase criteria.

• Go Out and see everything that fits the criteria in one or 2 weekend outings and only put an offer out if we find something the buyer LOVES.

• Create an automated email for new search matches twice a week and buyer marks properties interested that they want to see and we get out there and see them within 72 hours of list date. In this scenario, time is an ally and we are likely to find some amazing deals!

My favorite example of this was a client who was an Afghanistan Vet who returned home who grew up on a farm. When he returned home, he got a corporate job in the West Loop and wanted a 5th floor or higher 2 bed 2 bath condo. Okay, not too hard other than the 5th floor as most of the buildings in the West Loop of no more than 7 stories so that reduces the available units dramatically, but still doable. Here is the kicker. He grew up watching amazing sunsets on the farm, so when he returned home from war, he knew that he wanted to watch as many sunsets as he could. Therefore, we had to meet all the aforementioned criteria, and it had to have a west facing balcony! After 3.5 months of going out every other week looking at 1-2 places at a time during his lunch break as more West Facing > 5th floor 2/2 condos got listed, we found him his dream condo which happened to be a foreclosure and a really good deal to boot.

So not everyone has the flexibility to Stalk the market. They might have to buy on a schedule due to school years, family issues, health issues, or work demands. So the most typical scenario is the person who needs to sells their home first, and then needs to buy a home quickly as they cannot or at lease do not want to deal with a double move.

It’s important for the person to know the product, location, and price of exactly what they are looking for in order to give themselves the best chance of finding something they love in a tight window. So when I’m selling their property, we will schedule 2-3 “Lookey Lu’s”.  Yea, that’s a made up term that I came up with but it means that we are going out to look at property to educate ourselves on the market, with no real intention of buying the properties we are looking at. It’s important that buyers know that this is okay, and is part of the preparation to buy process. How else will you know a good deal, if you have not defined what you’re looking for, and have a basis for comparison.

Buying is a “process” that can be fun and financially rewarding, or stressful and unsuccessful.

Whether it is patient “Stalking,” doing “Lookey Lu’s,” or just encouraging my clients to be patient and “Buy What They Love,” I can help you find your dream home at a dream price.