What the best real estate transactions have in common
After years of helping people buy and sell homes, we’ve noticed that the best transactions tend to have something in common. They don’t start when the house hits the market or when the buyer is ready to make an offer. They start much earlier. The smoothest buyers are often the ones who started planning before they were ready to buy. The least-stressed sellers are usually the ones who didn’t wait until they had a “For Sale” sign in the yard to start preparing. The best transactions leave enough room for people to make thoughtful decisions along the way. Sometimes that means buying. Sometimes it means selling. And sometimes it means waiting, saving more, changing direction or deciding that moving isn’t the right answer at all.
One of our favorite times to meet with a buyer is six to twelve months before they are ready to purchase. That may seem early, especially if you’re not planning to move until next year. But having time on your side can make the entire process easier. There may be credit issues to address, money to save, neighborhoods to explore and questions about the home-buying process that you don’t even know you have yet. It’s also an opportunity to figure out what you actually want in a home, not just what looks appealing when you’re scrolling through listings. Do you really want a big house, or do you want a house with a great backyard? Is a finished basement important, or would you rather have a shorter commute? How much work are you willing to take on? Which neighborhoods actually fit your lifestyle? Those are much easier questions to answer when you aren’t under pressure to find a house by a certain date. And perhaps most importantly, starting early gives life some room to happen.
We once met with a couple about six months before their lease was scheduled to end. On paper, that should have been plenty of time to find a home. Their expectations were realistic, but the market was competitive, and they lost out on several houses. Then they found out they were expecting their first child. Suddenly, the house they thought they wanted wasn’t necessarily the house that made the most sense for their growing family. Rather than add the stress of moving and having a baby at the same time, they renewed their lease and put their search on hold. About a year and a half later, they were ready to try again. By the time they reached the closing table, they had found a home that truly fit their lives. Could they have forced the original timeline? Probably. Would we have recommended it? Absolutely not. Having the flexibility to say “this isn’t the right time” turned out to be one of the best decisions they made.
The same principle applies to sellers. The easiest houses to sell are generally the ones that have been maintained, updated, decluttered and cared for over time. The problem is that most homeowners don’t think about these things until they’ve decided to list. Then suddenly there is a long list of projects, repairs, paperwork and decisions that all need to happen at once. We’d much rather see homeowners think about these things gradually. Maybe you tackle one or two projects every year. Maybe you clean out the basement before it becomes overwhelming. Maybe you repaint a room, address a small repair or improve the landscaping because you’ll enjoy it while you’re still living there, not simply because you might sell someday. It’s a win-win. You get to enjoy your home while you own it, and when the time eventually comes to sell, you have far less to do. There are even small things you can do now that will make a future sale easier.
For example, if you think you might sell in the fall or winter, take some good photos of your yard while everything is green and blooming. Those photos can help future buyers understand what the property looks like during the growing season, even when your house is listed in the middle of winter. It takes a few minutes now and can save you from wishing you had done it later.
Whether you’re buying or selling, having time gives you options. It gives buyers time to improve their financial position, learn the market and figure out what they really want. It gives sellers time to make thoughtful improvements instead of rushing through a giant pre-listing to-do list. And it gives everyone something else that is incredibly valuable in a real estate transaction, the ability to change your mind.
Markets change. Jobs change. Families change. Financial circumstances change. What you thought you wanted six months ago may not be what you want today. We don’t think that’s a problem. In fact, we think it’s one of the reasons planning ahead is so important. The goal isn’t to create a rigid plan and stick to it no matter what. The goal is to give yourself enough time and information to make a good decision when the time comes. Sometimes that decision will be to move forward. Sometimes it will be to wait. And sometimes the best real estate advice we can give is, “You don’t need to move right now.”
To us, that’s what a successful real estate transaction looks like, not simply getting to the closing table, but helping our clients arrive there knowing they made the right decision for themselves.