CMT20 Lesson #4: Having lots of money doesn’t make buying a home easy

This is my 20th anniversary as a Tri-Cities real estate agent. I’ve learned a lot in those two decades! Throughout the year, I’ll be sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned from my time in real estate.

I have a client who can spend up to about $800,000. We’ve been looking for the right property for about a year now, and have come up empty time and time again.

I put out a plea on Facebook detailing his wish list, and received messages about a few options. That was much appreciated! None of those options worked out, but I was still grateful for the efforts to help.

One person messaged me about a home for sale. I knew immediately it wouldn’t work. She kept telling me about the features and benefits, but I still knew it wasn’t right for my client. I ultimately messaged back, “He’s looking at homes in the $700k range, so I don’t think the finishes on that house will work for him.”

“Oh,” she responded. “At that amount, he should have no trouble finding something.”

No. That isn’t true.

We’ve been looking for a year! The right house isn’t showing up. We’ve gone up in price, down in price, considered other cities, smaller lots with bigger houses, and smaller houses on larger lots.

Have you ever watched those Million Dollar real estate shows that show houses in NYC and L.A.? All of those houses are priced in the millions, and I like probably 1% of them. So, even if I DID have millions of dollars to spend, that doesn’t mean I’m going to spend it on a house I don’t like just because I CAN.

All buyers want the same thing — a house they like that they can afford. Just because they may be able to afford more than you and me, doesn’t mean they have it easier than us when it comes to house shopping.