Select Your Criteria
The second common mistake that most home buyers make is being too specific when selecting their search criteria. The old rule of thumb – “Less Is More” – definitely applies here.
Start with your basic needs:
- number of bedrooms
- number of bathrooms
- maximum price
- your favorite suburb(s) or school district(s)
Although it’s important to consider all of your preferences – like lot size, number of garage spaces, square footage, floor plan, interior/exterior finishes, etc. – adding too many preferences to your search criteria may cause you to miss out on your dream home.
Here’s why.
Any preferences you add to your search criteria will add a filter to your search results. Listings that don’t match your criteria exactly – including ones that match all criteria except one – will not show up in your search results at all. They will essentially become invisible to you.
This can also happen with basic criteria. Here are some tips:
- If you prefer 2 full bathrooms but you would consider buying a home with 1 full bathroom
- select “1+ bathrooms” rather than “2+ bathrooms”
- If you prefer 4 bedrooms but you would consider buying a home with 3 bedrooms
- select “3+ bedrooms” rather than “4+ bedrooms”
- If you prefer spending less than $200,000 but you would consider spending up to $250,000
- select “$250,000” as your maximum price rather than “$200,000”
Although you may feel like you’re compromising, you’re more likely to find your dream home by selecting your criteria this way because you’ll see all of your options. From there, you can determine which homes match most of your preferences by viewing them online and scheduling showings of your favorites.
Just remember – when it comes to selecting search criteria – “Less Is More.”
If you want to make sure that your search criteria are set up correctly, feel free to contact me at your convenience.
I’m happy to help.