There are ten thousand ways to describe a home, and there are ten thousand different amenities you can find in any property. Because real estate is so diverse, finding the right home can often become like homework. You’ll spend hours on the computer, searching around, looking for the right match. And sometimes that search can feel fruitless after days or weeks of looking. To help narrow down where you should start looking (and which amenities to focus on), we’ve compiled a short list of different types of home buyers. In each “persona,” you’ll see what each type of person typically looks for and you’ll see our suggestions on how to meet those real estate goals. For example, if someone is looking for a family-friendly atmosphere in a particular neighborhood, we’ll describe the type of difficulties that person usually faces and also provide them with some suggested neighborhoods to look at. So, now it’s time to figure out which type of buyer you are.
The Deal Hunter
A lot of us want the best deal we can find in any home. It’s the reason negotiating has become pretty much standard in any real estate deal. But the trouble deal-seekers often face is how to spot a potential opportunity. With over 60,000 homes for sale in Northern Virginia, finding that “golden nugget” can prove difficult. The solution is to look beyond the price tag. On our website (when you search for homes), click the “Full Details” button to view more information. There, you can utilize the housing data to your benefit.
Items like the “Days on Market” will reveal if the home has been sitting on the market for a long time. This could mean that there hasn’t been much interest in the house and no buyers have made serious offers. As a result, the homeowner might become more willing to strike a deal with a new buyer — since they haven’t been able to sell their house in a long time. But just as a reminder, there are tons of different motivations for home sellers. They might not be in a hurry to sell (which could be why they haven’t struck any deals on their home sale). However, at the very least, you can spot a potential opportunity. To further verify if the homeowner is anxious to sell and strike a deal immediately, you can utilize more information in the “Full Details,” under the “Price History” section.
If you notice the homeowner has made significant price reductions on their property within a short period, it might show you that they are anxious to sell immediately. Our suggestion is to take the data and mark down the potential opportunity for the property. Then, we recommend contacting one of our agents to discuss if there is potential value there.
The School Reporter
Every parent wants their child to go to a great school. The difficulty with moving to a new area is discovering which schools are best, and then finding a good neighborhood zoned for that school. If you ever need to know which schools are best, we suggest first looking up school ratings on Greatschools.org. They provide ratings for all the different schools in each city and also leave room for you to read other parents’ comments. In addition, to looking up the schools rating, you can find their annual report card on local school district websites.
One note to keep in mind when searching for a home near a great school is the price impact on properties. Typically, real estate located in prime areas around good schools have a higher price tag. The trade-off is that when you go to re-sell the property, you will be able to sell for a great value because there will be eager buyers to be located near a good school.
The Commuter
Another factor that buyers focus on when searching for a new home is their commute time to the workplace. No one likes sitting through hours of traffic everyday. Finding a home near your workplace could be vital (especially in bigger, heavily-trafficked cities), and there is one solution to help you: Google Maps. Type in the addresses for your workplace and the home you are interested in, and get a rough estimate of the travel time back and forth. You can even do the map search during rush hour times to see if traffic gets really backed up in certain areas.
Overall, if you’re looking for a quick commute time to work, it’d be best to talk to someone who knows the area (like one of our agents). A local resident can give you personalized advice on traffic times and which areas would be best (better than any software can).
Searching for a New Home
If you’re looking for a new home or want to know more information about certain areas, feel free to contact us. The E4Realty Group consists of team members who have lived in the area for several years. They know which areas would work best for you needs, so if you need help narrowing down your choices, definitely give us a call: 703-722-5018.