I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of people looking at 100 homes, loosing multiple offers, and generally feeling frustrated with the home buying process. This is not how the best real estate agents work! Buying a home can be a stressful event although it doesn’t have to be that way! One of the biggest causes of home buyer frustration is that they haven’t distinguished between their ‘NEEDS’ and their ‘WANTS’ and this always makes the buying situation confusing for the people involved (buyer(s) & in many cases their realtors). When buyers haven’t clearly distinguished between what their needs are, and then what their wants are, then it all comes out as a need. And you guessed it, to get all of those “needs”in one specific home always requires moving to a higher price bracket than the buyer ever thinks. Very often, a wonderful house that is within budget is just  waiting for you, after you critically evaluate what really is a need and what is actually a want.

Since I can’t speak for any other realtor except myself, I will tell you how I use this exercise to provide value to my clients.
See Jeff O’Leary, The Village Guru client testimonials.

However, first I will explain the difference between “needs” and “wants”:

Needs

Needs are something you have to have, and no matter how great the home is, you just can’t buy it. An easy example is if you need 4 bedrooms because you have 3 kids, then you CAN’T buy a 3 bed home, no matter how nice and how big it is. Needs don’t have to be that simple, and they can vary from one person to another. Another fairly common need is, “I need a house in this neighbourhood because that is the school my kids go to.”

By identifying your needs, the best real estate agents eliminate unsuitable homes much easier and focus their time and energy (and ultimately your time and energy) on properties that might fit the bill. Satisfying your needs is the number one priority but there is one thing I should reiterate. Really think about your needs and whether they are truly are needs because the more needs you have, I can guarantee the less homes there are available to fill them.

Wants

Your wants are important and it’s my job to find them for you but the difference is that a “want” is something you want, BUT if we found a perfect property you could live without that one item. I like using the pool as an example, you may really want a pool- but if the house was amazing, haa a great price and maybe only had a hot tub instead, you would still buy it.

Your wants are your wish list and I encourage my clients to put as much as they can on this list because it is important. Many times this is how you will determine what house is the best for you once you’ve narrowed it down to a few choices. Once I am able to focus the search based on NEEDS, I then turn to the wants to find the best homes to show my clients.

In closing, I will add one more piece of advice. If there is more than one person buying the home (for example a couple) I always recommend that each partner does the needs and wants exercise separately and then review it together. Everyone is different and everyone sees the world from a different perspective. By talking about needs and wants ahead of time you will both be on the same page and ready to hit the home search together.

Feel free to download The Village Guru Home Buyers Guide with the needs and wants exercise in it. I encourage you to do it ahead of time as it will help in the future. If you have any questions or would like some assistance in finding a home in the west GTA contact me and we’ll set up a time to discuss further over a coffee.

At the end of the day, it is my goal to get you all of your needs and get you as many (if not all) of your wants! Happy Hunting!

 

 

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