A New Way to Buy or Sell a House

October 18, 2013

I recently talked to someone selling his house and he told me about something he is doing that I had never heard of before. It helped him get a quick sale at his asking price without a lot of back and forth negotiating. Then, I read this article about the same thing and began to wonder if this is going to be a trend that picks up momentum across the country. 

What is it? It’s a “test drive” of the house. You don’t buy a car without driving it first, yet most of us will make a purchase that is for significantly more money and impact our financial lives for potentially decades based on a 10 minute walk through of a house. This new strategy/tactic/trend is an “extended tour” of a house.  Spending 12-15 hours in a house allows you to hear the sounds of traffic, picture yourself and your family in the house and truly get a feel for what may be the biggest purchase of your lifetime.

This extended tour idea can work whether you’re buying or you’re selling.  Think about it from both angles. If you’re buying (I know the next time I buy I’ll ask about this), it would be an ideal way to check out the house in detail and not have a big case of buyer’s remorse after the purchase.

If you’re selling, consider this. A seller wants someone to come in, see the house and put in a fair offer. This tactic reminds me a bit of how people end up with puppies or kittens. Who can take a cute little puppy home (or a kitten for the cat people out there….) and NOT want to keep it? You start to picture the puppy as a part of your life. This can work essentially the same way.  If you have can let someone spend a day in your house, they can picture building a life there and are probably a much likelier buyer than someone who just does a quick walk through and is in and out in 15 minutes and your house is one of the 5 or 6 they see in a day. Only a serious buyer would spend so much time in one house!

I messaged a few realtors that I know and none are using this strategy yet, but each one found it interesting. So, if you are thinking of doing this, your search for a realtor who is familiar with it and is willing to do it may be challenging. But, this is a trend that could gain steam if it is proven to have success.

It is time consuming if you’re the buyer. You have to be very serious about a property to spend the better part of a day in one of a few potential next homes. As a seller, you’d need to have a place to go while your prospective buyer is spending time at your house. But if you can put the time in upfront, you could save yourself a lot of worry and doubt long term.

One of the worst decisions I ever made was buying a house that I didn’t really love. I liked the house I moved out of a lot more than the one I moved into, and I regretted buying that house every day that I lived there.  It was no fun!  The day I moved, I was very happy to know that I never had to sleep there again.

How can you avoid that feeling?  Or, if you have that feeling how can you move on to the next home where you may not have it?  Read this article to see if this strategy is one that resonates with you, regardless of your buyer/seller status. If it’s something that interests you, give it a shot!  You may be on the front edge of a trend that allows you to have an advantage over other buyers/sellers in this very challenging real estate market.