After my most recent initial buyer consultation I decided to coin the term “Real Estate Therapy” to describe the interaction. I am not sure why it took me so long to think of buyer consultations this way, but honestly, what we do as Buyer Agents is almost like therapy, but not in the traditional sense that one thinks of a therapy session.
My goal in these consultations is to help my clients codify, or get to the essence of their motivations, wants, and needs so that they can do a better job of defining what is important to them for their first or next home. During these consultations it became evident to me that I was asking what some would consider the “hard questions”, but I truly want my clients to think about the overall qualitative aspects of their decision, not just the quantitative ones.
When Realtors ask clients about what they are looking for in their new home, we typically get the standard answers pertaining to the price range, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and areas where they want to live. But by asking questions that uncover the motivations behind their responses, I encourage my clients to think outside the box, thereby helping them self-validate whether their choices truly align with their desired lifestyle.
Some of the topics we cover, are designed to get them to think about their overall quality of life and not necessarily the physical structure of the home. For example:
- How many people are going to live in the home now & in the future?
- How close do you want to be to the important things in your life?
- What do you like to do in your downtime & will this new home enhance or detract from to those activities?
- What are your intentions with the home when you decide it is time to move on?
NOTE: I don’t necessarily need answers to these questions because I am not trying to pry into their personal life. Rather, these questions are designed to be more introspective so that the buyer(s) can come to their own conclusions.
Buying a home can be overwhelming with all the machinations, from having lender discussions, to defining wish and want lists, to visiting homes, to negotiating offers and inspection repair requests, to dealing with other obstacles that may surface until settlement, etc. By truly coming to an awareness of the motivations behind why you are moving, you can do so with greater confidence and be more targeted in your approach.