Let’s start building the life you love.
Dear xx,
Buying a home is one of those rare experiences in life where it can feel like you spend half your time just holding your breath and hanging on.
There’s so much to consider and so much that makes it more than a transaction - there’s market conditions, price negotiations, and the persistent worry that the perfect house is just around the corner. There are so many questions and just as many decisions to make.
One day you’ll be fully confident you’re taking measurable steps toward building a life you love and the next day be absolutely certain you’re about to do a big thing badly.
Calling the whole process a roller coaster is perhaps an understatement.
It’s an apt metaphor.
But here’s the thing:
Just like with actual roller coasters, the first choice you have to make is whether or not you want to stand in line at all. Your first decision is whether or not you're interested in strapping yourself into the thing.
I’ve spent the last 20 years turning roller coasters into something else - something predictable, something clear, something (dare I say) enjoyable.
Let me tell you what I mean.
Making the chaotic appear predictable.
Something happens the 20th or 50th or 132nd time you do something. You start to realize an experience that at times feels like chaos is very rarely actually that. You start making connections and recognizing patterns. You start being able to see around corners.
The biggest disadvantage you have, xx, is that you haven’t bought that many houses. You haven’t watched the process play out dozens or hundreds of times. The first time you climb up to the peak of the roller coaster, of course it feels terrifying.
Make that climb often enough, though, and it feels pretty normal.
That’s what I do. I normalize the crazy. I flatten out the roller coaster so you don’t have to close your eyes and grip the sides of the cart until your hands turn purple. I introduce predictability into an unpredictable process.
I do all that by getting a very clear understanding of the life you’re trying to build. I do it by asking lots of questions and being honest. I do it by bringing to your buying journey years and years of connecting dots and anticipating problems.
If we end up working together, that’s what I’ll bring to the table: Clarity.
Let me tell you what that looks like in practice.
Understanding what comes next.
At this stage, I already have a good sense of your current situation.
To go from where we are to the life you’re looking to build, there are a few more steps:
Step 1: Understanding Your Priorities
Our goal from the start is to get crystal clear on what you’re looking for so we can find you a great new home, all while ensuring you don’t pay too much for it.
Step 2: Clarifying the Market Conditions
I’ll introduce you to the other main character in this story: the market. I’ll make sure you understand how it will affect your search, how fast we’ll need to move, and what it all means for the price you’ll ultimately pay.
Step 3: Predicting the Future
Once we’re clear on the life you want to build and the kind of home you’ll love, as well how the current market conditions will factor into the mix, I’ll be able to give you a good sense of what the next few months will look like.
Step 4: Closing the Sale
I’ll ensure the closing goes well by managing deadlines, handling the price negotiation, and making sure no details are overlooked.
Working together as a team.
It can seem at times like the entire real estate industry has been designed to confuse people. If you’re feeling that, you’re not alone.
Some folks respond to that lack of clarity by deciding to go on this journey without an agent or by working with people or services that claim to have found a way to use technology as a way of simplifying things.
In my experience, though, the best way to fight confusion is not by pretending it doesn’t exist but by finding somebody who knows the rules, has a firm understanding of what prices are reasonable or not, and who can help keep the stress to a dull roar.
But even doing that is a bit unclear as you set out to buy a new home!
So let me help a little.
Your agent will play several roles in your purchase. One part coach, two parts project manager, and three parts strategic negotiator. Each effects your purchase experience.
It’s important to understand that because if you think you’re paying your agent to open doors or do paperwork, you might think it doesn’t matter who you work with. But make no mistake about it, you’re hiring somebody to represent your best interests both mentally and financially. And, as we all know, you’ll get what you pay for.
So what is my fee? 3% of your sale price.
Recent industry changes allow buyers to negotiate my fee (and other terms or conditions) directly with the seller at the time they make an offer. That means a portion or all of my fee may be covered by a credit from the seller to you.
If we end up working together, I’ll serve as your project manager, advisor, and secret weapon.
Putting a premium on clarity.
For the last twenty years, xx, I’ve been helping people just like you build the lives they want in homes they love. I’ve had the privilege of playing a small role in hundreds of big moves.
I’ve navigated great markets and tough ones, boon times and pandemics and everything in between.
Through it all, I’ve come to see myself not as a real estate agent but a change-agent. After all, there are few things in life as big, scary, complex, and exciting as moving. There are few things that bring with them quite so much change.
I know at this stage of the process, everything feels overwhelming.
I know it feels like you have a million decisions to make, each one of them important.
If we were to work together, I want you to know that I put a premium on clarity.
As much as I want to help you find your new home for the best price, I want just as much for you to feel like you had somebody in your corner the whole time, watching your back, peeking around corners, and calming the chaos.
In short, what I hope to be is the first big decision you make in this process that allows for all the subsequent decisions to feel just a bit easier, a bit clearer, and a bit less stressful.
I look forward to hearing back from you. Please don’t hesitate to ask any other questions you may have.
All my best,
Sandy