Make sure you always turn the corner
Real estate tips of the week: always make sure you turn the corner when looking for a potential property to buy or rent, and the next time you’re not feeling well, don’t ask your husband to take care of the houseguests.
Recently, we were expecting two of our favorite houseguests in town for a short visit when I came down with a vicious bronchitis the day before, sending me to an urgent care clinic and my husband into Panic #1. Panic #2 happened when I asked him to pick-up a few things at Publix the day before their arrival.
I knew I was in trouble when I found a large bag of broccoli in the refrigerator where the English muffins should have been and three bags of lettuce where the soda should have been. In fact the only thing that survived the list intact was the wine.
Panic #3 was when I asked him to take our guests on an Anna Maria tour looking for seasonal rentals for next year. Since I had previously researched potential properties, I was able to meticulously prepare a list complete with location, descriptions and approximate weekly and monthly rates, so the day our guests arrived, I sent the three of them off on an expedition.
When the group arrived back a few hours later, they were so excited they could hardly believe what they found for the price. There was just one problem, the cell phone pictures they took didn’t look a thing like any of the properties I sent them to, concluding they went to the wrong address. “Oh no,” the substitute tour director said, pointing out the house number in one of the pictures which was indeed the same. Turns out the group went to the right address on the wrong street just around the corner. That’s when Panic #4 set in, sending my poor husband to the only thing that survived the aforementioned shopping list – the wine.
Well as serendipity will have it, our guests were so enamored by the property around the corner that the next day they contacted the broker and ended up renting it for the next two seasons. The result was a happy ending for all except the owners of the original property who had the misfortune of having the same house number.
I bet by now you’re thinking what does my family saga have to do with real estate? The answer is everything, starting with keeping all of your options open. It doesn’t matter if you’ re looking for your lifetime home or a one month rental, boxing yourself into a strict set of requirements is never a good thing.
Buyers, particularly first time buyers, are sometimes very focused on their exact requirements in a home and won’t even look at a property that doesn’t meet what’s on their list. Shopping for a home is essentially an education, and like all quality educations, the more exposure you have to the topic the better educated you become.
Buyers should always take their broker’s recommendation to look at something a little outside of their comfort zone, and sellers should never flat out turn down an offer without attempting to find common ground. As far as my houseguests are concerned, they started looking for something small for the month of February and ended up with a 4 bedroom house in April.
So there you go. The moral of the story is that you never know what’s going to be just around the next corner, so don’t be afraid to make the turn and keep those Z-packs handy.