I’m a matchmaker. No really, I am.
Just like the matchmaker who pairs men with woman, men with men, and woman with a woman, my job is to pair my clients with the perfect property that ticks off as many of their boxes as possible.
But allow me to tell you a secret. Just like dating, most of the time that absolutely perfect man/woman/house/condo/loft fails to exist. Nothing is perfect. In dating you might find a gorgeous woman but she’s a financial disaster. Or those muscles are oh-so-fine but he’s not Jewish and your parents would disapprove. In real estate you might find a gorgeous house but it’s on the corner of sketch and even sketchier. Or everything about the condo is just right but it doesn’t have the pool you really, really wanted your future pad to have.
I always have my clients list out a needs list and a wants list before we start working together. (What a novel idea, huh? Not a bad idea to draft up while in the dating game, isn’t it?) Back to real estate — a needs and a wants list helps both you and I to prioritize what’s most important in your future home so we can weed out what won’t work, addressing the wants items separately and figuring out how we can add them in later, if they are not already present in the home.
I’ve seen clients with little tiny budgets and ones with huge budgets. I’ve been there myself and thought if I just upped my budget a little more than I’ll find everything I need AND want. Guess what? No matter what your budget, you’ll likely need to make sacrifices. And guess what? Ask any happily married couple and they’ll tell you the same thing. It’s not always perfect with this other person, but it’s also everything I need.
In summary: If you keep looking for perfection, you might just be single and houseless for a long while.
Here’s your task for today: (do this on a Friday night with a lovely glass of wine in hand, because this exercise is fun!)
Make TWO lists. One is your future home NEED list and one is your WANT list. If you’re tech savvy, open up a PINTEREST account (remember to follow me) and go wild!
(As I instructed a client this week, your need list should be significantly shorter and more important than the want list.)