ultimate first-time homebuyers guide
Part 3: Shopping
Time to go see some houses!
You’ve been browsing Zillow, Redfin, realtor.com, etc., all of which will show you the same houses, as they are syndicated by your local area’s Multiple Listing Service. Perhaps your Realtor has set you up with a more refined search on a system they like. Whichever site you prefer is fine. You can’t smell a house from an app, though, so it’s time to get on out there and actually open some doors.
There are two main ways to see actively listed homes: open houses, and private showings set up by your Realtor. Let’s talk for a moment about best practices for each.
Open houses are a great way to see a bunch of houses on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon with little planning. As mentioned above, they’re also a good way to audition potential agents, and there’s no need to actually be a realistic buyer for the house. Tire kickers are welcome. However, it’s going to be a cursory look at the home. You may feel pressure from having a host nearby, and potentially from other visitors. It’s not always the most comfortable setting for those reasons. Still, you get to see some of the basics (floor plan, condition, how the neighborhood looks, how steep the driveway is, pet smell or lack thereof) that are tough to gauge from the photos. If you have further interest after this initial look, talk to your Realtor about setting up a second showing.
Once you have a Realtor on your side, they’ll set up private showings of actively listed homes for you. These showings are far more useful than open houses for actually determining if it’s a house you want to make an offer on. At these showings, you can discuss the qualities of the home with your trusted advisor, and you can take an in-depth look at the condition and components. How does the roof look? What’s the age of the HVAC system? Is there water pooling in one spot in the backyard? Is there an oddly placed throw rug that might be hiding a carpet stain? This is the chance to put some critical eyes on the property— yours and your Realtor’s.
Tip: When on someone’s property, assume there are cameras recording (whether disclosed or not). Don’t talk prices or negotiating strategy; wait until you’re away from the home and out of earshot.
Starting with a broad search is fine, but once you’ve been looking for a little bit (online and in real life) you should narrow down your criteria. What do you need and what can you live without? Defining these objectives will make the search more manageable.
The easiest way to begin narrowing things down is by geography. If you’ve decided that being in a certain school district is a deal-breaker, start there. Price is, of course, also a major criteria, but keep in mind that all homes are negotiable and the final price might end up being less than the list price (perhaps significantly). If you have an absolute maximum budget of $700,000, don’t set your search criteria to max out at that number— go a bit higher.
Tip: The schools that are assigned in a listing are often incorrect. Most school districts have an online boundary map, so double-check there.
I’ll backtrack just a bit regarding deal-breakers. The funny thing about them is that they can and possibly will change. You might think at the start of your search that a house MUST have a three-car garage, but when faced with the reality that, say, a third garage bay adds $100K to the price and severely limits the available houses, the priority may change. One deal-breaker can outweigh another, which means your deal-breakers weren’t necessarily deal-breakers in the first place. Also, your spouse has their own set of priorities, and as all married people understand, deal-breakers have a way of being reclassified as compromises.
Tip: If you’re having trouble deciding how important each criteria is, make a list of what you think your “must haves” are in a house. Then find some listings that are strong on some of them but weak on others, so you can see the trade-offs necessary to get the “must haves.” Your brain will start ranking their importance for you.
One last note about seeing houses: it’s important to respect the homeowner who, particularly if they’re still living in the home, has put a lot of work into preparing for your showing. They had to make the home show-ready and vacate the premises, which can be a challenge when there are kids, pets, and busy lives to work around. When asking your Realtor to request a showing of an occupied home (and your Realtor will know when a home is occupied and when it’s vacant), give them as much notice as you can. It doesn’t have to be at least 24 hours, but that’s a good goal. Also, don’t blow off the showing. If things change and you can’t make it, give as much notice as possible. As stressful as shopping for a house can be, it can be more stressful to sell one. Respect that, as you will likely be in their shoes someday.