Bay Area real estate has always demanded patience on the part of buyers. Many spend months scouring listings in hopes of finding "the one." Then there is Lidia Pringle. Over two-and-a-half years, Ms. Pringle personally inspected 298 homes in Marin County.
--"A Picky Home Buyer Pursues An Epic Hunt for 'the One'"; The Wall Street Journal (12/29/09)
My Realtor's take on Ms. Pringle's quest isn't surprise that she actually went through 298 homes.
The surprise is that she actually bought one.
In my experience, viewing that many homes -- in fact, a fraction of that number -- invariably takes one out of the "serious Buyer" category and into an altogether different one: "open house hobbyist," perhaps, or maybe "too-much-time-on-your-hands architecture buff."
Given that the upper bracket properties Ms. Pringle was checking out typically don't open their homes to the public, the likelihood is that she viewed most of those homes through Realtor-arranged private showings.
Poor Realtor(s).
Apparently, Ms. Pringle ditched the Realtor who'd arranged most of those showings and bought through one who showed her exactly one home, the one she bought.
Ahh . . . the agony (and the ecstasy) of working on commission!
P.S.: one of the things Realtors quickly realize is that sometimes, the harder you work for a client, the less they appreciate it. Realization #2: so-called tire kickers never kick the tires on the housing equivalent of Chevettes and Pinto's (remember those?); it's always Porches and BMW's.
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1 comment:
Great article for home buyers considering the Bay Area Real Estate. This will no doubt be helpful to many as they begin the home buying process.
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