Many buyers have asked me, “How many homes, on average, will we look at before we find the one?”
Of course, while I’d like to say it depends, I can actually give you a little more guidance and insight on this topic.
The actual answer is that you’re probably going to look at far fewer homes than you think. The truth is that with all the information that’s available today, you’ll actually look at quite a few homes before you come to me with listings you’d like to visit.
For every home you go into, I would venture to guess that you’ve seen 50 or more online that didn’t make the list. When we work with our clients, we tell them that on average, our clients look at about seven homes before they place an offer.
Now, being above or below that number doesn’t mean you’re bad or good. If you’re from out of town and you’re looking at multiple areas within the community you’re moving to, you may see more homes than average because you need to explore the different pockets of town.
Most people, however, will probably never come to me with a list of 50 homes they want to look at. Frankly, if your list is that high, I’ll respectfully push back because you might not be looking at the right criteria for homes. If you use the right criteria in terms of the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the home’s condition, location, yard, garage, etc., there will probably be homes available in our market, but not 50, to see.
And even if there were 50 homes that met your specific criteria, I’d ask you to pick your top seven choices and go from there. Even when you drive by homes, you’ll learn based on the feel of the neighborhood or the location whether or not that house is in or out of scope for you.
My goal is not to make my life easier by showing you fewer homes. Honestly, it’s the opposite; my goal is to work together with you to form an intelligent search strategy so that your home search is more efficient and successful.
If you have any questions or real estate goals that you need help to fulfill, please give me a call or send me an email. We’re here to help.