Creating Your Custom Search
Our goal is to create a search that is highly customized to your goals and preferences. Many times we will build this live via Zoom so we can evaluate realtime results with areas, price ranges and feature combinations. None of the free online tools can get this specific.
We start with a draft of the area and refine that as we preview properties to add and subtract neighborhoods as needed. Our search alerts will progressively get smarter and smarter so your alerts will continue to be properties that are good matches for you.
The First Trip Out
- Time block 2-3 hours to view the properties
- Compile a short list of desired properties to see ( ideally no more than 8 homes in one day – beyond that they begin to run together)
- We confirm the statuses with the Listing Agent the evening before – including asking if there are any offers in play or if there are any offer deadlines we need to be aware of
- We route them all in a logical order allowing roughly 20 minutes each for viewing plus travel time in between
- We request the specific appointment time for each property
- We confirm appointment times and adjust the route if needed
- Set up a meeting time and place for the day of showings
- Evaluate each property on a pass/fail basis to determine if we need to loop back around and plan a second visit
The Second Trip Out
The second trip could be just like the first if there are more than 6-8 properties under consideration. The goal is to purposefully get through the list of possibilities as fast as possible to see if there is a winner among the existing inventory of homes matching your criteria. Once we preview all the initial options, we go into what I refer to as “firedrill mode” where we are waiting on new listings to hit the system and word of mouth networking to uncover unlisted options.
Calibration Mode
The initial property previews are what I call calibration mode because you are getting a feel for what your money can buy. Many times what you see in person feels drastically different from what you saw online. Our goal is for you to get a sense for values so that when you see the house that you love, you will recognize the value and be able to make the decision you want to make in a timely fashion – there are often competing buyers seeing the same opportunity and there may be multiple offers in play. Our goal is also to help train your eye online so you can catch aspects that will cause properties not to work and filter them out before you make a trip in person.
Example: Door dimensions – The typical door height is 6 ft-6 inches. If you look at a photo and the door appears abnormally wide, they used a wide angle for the photo and the rooms will most likely feel much smaller in person. If the ceilings appear to only be a few inches above the doors, the ceiling height may be more like 7 ft than the typical 8 ft height of most rooms (in non-luxury properties).