Get a shed, Fred

For buyers, the job of a great Realtor is to match you with the home that suits your needs most accurately. Before doing that, there is an art to assessing your needs.

If you've ever had an outstanding clothes sales person, part of what made them great was that they brought you things that you wouldn't normally try on. Annoying when they're out to lunch but intriguing and helpful when you try something on that really works! And something that you would never choose without their help.

As an example for house hunting, occasionally a buyer will tell me that they must have a basement. I'll often ask them if they like basements. When the answer is "not really" I enquire further. Often buyers think they need a basement for storage! One time I remember the look on a woman's face when I posed the question, "have you considered a shed?" I felt like Moses parting the Red Sea. Well, okay, not that grand, but pretty spiffy. A shed was exactly the ticket. They didn't like basements at all. A simple suggestion, but one they had never thought of.

Sometimes too I'll ask a buyer how big the house should be. Sometimes their square footage requirements are off the charts....and only two people live there full time. As much as I'm happy to sell them a huge home, sometimes I ask further why they need such a big home. Sometimes the answer makes sense. Sometimes the answer is "just in case each of their 3 children and families come home over the same time frame." If that happens often, again, I understand. If that has never happened or happens so rarely that they can't remember the last time another suggestion might be helpful.

What if we scaled down your home size and then with the money you save by not maintaining and heating a huge area you rarely use you can set your family up in a posh B & B just down the road when they visit?

Of course some buyers are adamant about what they want, and that's fine too. But, more often than not, a great Realtor is (once again) worth their weight in gold by exceeding the expectations of the buyer and finding an even better fit than they had imagined.