Last weekend, the weather was gorgeous, and beautiful spring weather often lures city folks to think about the country. As in, "It's a beautiful day. Why don't we hop in the car and run upstate to look at some houses?"
Between Friday and Sunday last weekend, I fielded a half dozen calls from folks either already in their cars heading up or wanting to come up the next day. All were people I hadn't worked with before. Unfortunately, both my 2 colleagues at CBA and I were already booked solid for the weekend. The potential buyers all seemed disappointed — they were ready to take the plunge to look at houses, but none of us were available to accommodate them.
However, even if we weren't all booked up, last minute trips here are tough to arrange and usually far less satisfying that a pre-planned visit. House shoppers from the city, who haven't looked a lot for country property, often don't grasp that it takes some lead time to confirm arrangements to show particular houses. Sure, some houses are vacant and there's a lock box with a key. But other houses require the listing agent to coordinate an appointment with the seller, and in some cases, the listing agent needs to be present as well to show the house. Sometimes it can take a day for me and the listing agent to connect directly.
Even if the last minute logistics hurdles can be overcome, there's still the question of which houses would be best to see. A fruitful house hunting trip is actually the end of a process, not the start. I generally start working with potential buyers at least a week or two before they come up. We talk about what they're looking for (which initially can be very vague and diffuse). I email them listings of houses they may like. They email me listings they've found online. I send back comments and other suggestions. Working together, we narrow down and focus in on a group of houses that would be most useful to see.
My two colleagues and I at CBA are very good at this, and have guided hundred of potential buyers through the process. A response we get over and over from buyers at the end of a day looking at houses is that usually when they've been out a Realtor, they're often shown houses that don't fit what they're looking for. But with us, we often hear "We're so surprised. You only showed us 5 houses, and we actually liked 3 of them." Sure, part of it is that we're good at what we do. But it's more than that. It's largely because that boots-on-the-ground shopping trip is the result of a thoughtful, collaborative process.
Calling to come up on short notice doesn't afford the opportunity for that back and forth. Even when we can arrange them, last minute trips are often not that satisfying for buyers. The selection of houses is determined by "what can be arranged at short notice", not necessarily what are the best to see. And we're often left trying to intuit what might interest a buyer, and without a lot to go on, we can get it wrong.
For city folks, making a house hunting trip to Sullivan County is a significant investment of time. It involves real bucks, too, especially if you rent a car or arrange child care. So make the most of your upstate trips by planning ahead so that every hour you spend and every house you see is a valuable use of your time, not a waste of it.
