Time to look at Town homes?

I get a lot of clients that have visited this one of my blogs or have been to townhomesonly.com. When the time is right for them, they contact me and ask to see one or several homes. Our first contact is usually on the phone and we talk about home loans and home requirements. How many bedrooms, bathrooms, size of kitchen, number of floors, outdoor space, and whether they prefer a patio home, condo or town house.

My client at this time gives me several mls numbers to check on and I then do a search to find more properties that might fit their needs. I might come up with 30-50 properties before the first cut. I read over each property and eliminate those that have a particular flaw. Maybe it backs to a freeway or it's on the other end of the community away from the pool. Maybe it says 'fix up' in the description and my client wants something they can move into. I've even seen one that overlooked a Taco Bell. I told the client you can get used to the view and even the sound of cars through the drive thru, but after about a week you'll get real tired of the smell.

I reduce the number of homes form dozens down to a manageable 6-15. Now it's time to get on the phone. For each property I need to call the listing agent to make sure it's on lockbox, still an active listing and get any other info that needed to show the home. Then I have to contact the seller or occupant of the property to let them know when we plan to visit. Every so often, an occupant asks if we can view the home at a different time. A couple hours later or another day. If we were seeing only one property this might be possible. But, when you are seeing multiple homes and you want the driving kept to a minimum, this is harder to do. I plan my showing in a circular fashion trying to go against rush hour or any traffic. I go west when the traffic is coming east. It saves us a lot of time, but makes it hard to accommodate the sellers. Usually we can find some middle ground that makes everyone happy. I check with the owner to make sure there's no pets in the house or backyard. I make sure vacant homes have electricity. Yes, I've shown up at homes in the winter at 6 pm. It's dark and we use our cell phones as flash lights to see a home. Not ideal, but you do what you have to do.

Next, I clean up my car. Having two teenagers and their friends in the back seats make this very necessary. I get bottled water, snacks and a few toys for the car if necessary. When showing homes in the Arizona summers, I tend to leave my car running in the driveway. But, in town home communities this is harder to do. Especially, if you have to park away from the front door.

I arrange a time and place to meet my clients. We hop in my car, which has GPS. This makes finding homes much easier and off we go. The car time is great for allowing the client and I to get to know each other. This is often the first time we meet face to face. I hand the client a 'buyer's packet' of useful information and a flyer for each property we are going to look at. Some clients like to take notes as they tour the homes, others jot a few things down once we are back in the car.

As we drive into a community I like my clients to look at the neighbors homes, businesses and parks. It doesn't matter what I think of the neighborhood, but it sure does matter what the buyer thinks. Weeds and shopping carts in the park, broken windows and graffiti tell you a lot about the community and the home owners association.

At the front door, I'm getting the key out of the lockbox. The buyer is looking at the front of the home and the landscaping. This is why it's crucial to have great curb appeal. Sometimes, the buyer has done a drive by a day before the showing. If they don't like the looks from the outside, forget about them ever seeing the inside.

We enter each home and use all our senses. I've it smells like wet dog or like smoke, most buyer's will say something. I encourage my clients to tell me everything they think about the property. If the owner isn't there, they won't offend anyone and I learn a lot about what they want in a home. I try to point out the good and the bad. If the kitchen is far from the garage or parking, I ask if that will be a problem hauling the groceries. If there's a crack in the ceiling I point it out. Dirty a/c filter, I point it out. If the community garbage bin is next to your bedroom window will that keep you up at 6 am when you hear the trucks 'beep beep beep beep'?

On the first day I want to find out everything the buyer likes and dislikes about each home. Then I like the buyer to rate which homes they like the best. After that, I tell the buyer's if they know they don't like a home and would never buy it, let me know. Most buyer's can tell within 2 minutes if the house has a chance to make their cut. If they don't like it, lets go.

Most buyer's can pick a home to make an offer on in under 12 properties. Some take longer. My philosophy is that we will continue to look, as long as we are making progress. If we hit a stand still and I don't think the property they like is out there, I tell them. If they want a mansion for under $200,000, it's not going to happen. If they want a condo with 2 bedrooms near the pool for under $200,000 we can probably find them one in the east valley. In Paradise Valley? Maybe not.

At the end of the day, we talk about what we saw. Decide if any are worth making an offer on. Decide if I need to call the listing agent to get info about the particular homes. I take my clients home or to their car and call it a day.

Or do I? I then go back to the computer. Call any home owners that we did not have time to visit with. Call any agents to find out more information. Call agents to thank them and give them feedback on their properties. Check to see if any properties we did not see might now be worth seeing. If my client loved a particular community, but not the home we were in, I check to see what else is for sale in that neighborhood. Sometimes they like a floor plan, but not a neighborhood. I check other communities for the same home.

That's what a typical day of showing homes is like. 2 -3 hours for the buyer and 3-5 hours for the Realtor. And some days, I show homes to two different buyers.

It can be tiring, yes. But, when we find the perfect home, it's like hitting the game winning home run. Of course, when we find the right home we then have to make an offer and get it through escrow to a successful closing. That's another story altogether.

If you have questions about the showing process, feel free to leave a comment, email me or call. If you have suggestions to improve the process, I'd love to hear them.