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I looked at probably 30. But for a lot of those, I went to open houses and scouted stuff prior to even signing with an agent.
I had two agents take me on a preliminary tour, 5-6 properties on each. I signed with the second agent.
I looked at about 6 properties on my second tour before I made an offer.
I did sometimes get the sense that my agent was eager for me to make an offer. I walked away from two places due to seller dishonesty or multiple bids that were driving the place over asking, but the third place was the winner.
I think the more houses you have purchased in your life, the numbers of houses you look at each time decreases. With the internet, zillions of pictures and virtual tours, and Google Earth (so you can eliminate that house that backs to the used car lot) you can eliminate a LOT of houses without setting foot in them.
I think the more houses you have purchased in your life, the numbers of houses you look at each time decreases. With the internet, zillions of pictures and virtual tours, and Google Earth (so you can eliminate that house that backs to the used car lot) you can eliminate a LOT of houses without setting foot in them.
This is true. The last time we looked (last year) we zeroed in on ONE house.
But we have lived here for years and knew exactly where we wanted to be.
If you know what you want, and your agent is doing what s/he should, it should be like teamwork.
It takes what it takes. We looked at 14 homes before we found the one we wanted ( which turned into a disaster) after that we looked at 5 more found another. We did not get it. Other than that I will not be forced to just pick one because the realtor wants me to. I will only buy the house that fits my needs.
It is not a number.
I tell folks, "Most people look at enough homes to be certain that they have a good grasp of the market offerings in their price range. That may be 3, or it may be 43, but when they get to that point they usually make a selection from among the homes that they like the most."
I have shown 1 home and had buyers buy it. I have shown over 40.
I once showed a client 42 homes (She counted, not me.) And, she asked what I thought. I said my spiel, and also, "You haven't liked anything as much as the first one." She agreed and we went back and got a deal done on #1.
Every buyer is different. I started keeping track a couple of years ago. In my last 55 buyers, the average is 5.91 houses. That's with several buying within the first 1-2 houses they see and several buying after seeing 12-15 houses.
I like the average because it helps people understand that they don't need to look at everything on the market unless they're just looking for the next best thing. If you like a house, and can picture your family living there, there is nothing wrong with buying it. If you just feel the need to keep looking and you don't know why, you're not a buyer. If you truly feel you haven't found a house you can picture your family in, then by all means, keep looking.
My 4 closings for next month are 2 buyers bought the very first house, the next one took 16 houses and the next took 6. Funny that is still fits in my average of 6 houses!!
In the 1 1/2 years we've been looking, we have looked at around 9-10 houses. I absolutely LOVE aerial views because before bothering my realtor I can get a lot of information on the yard and neighborhood to help me make my decision to look or not. I found a house that isn't perfect but checked all my main 3 criteria and we put in an offer. The house is a short sale and we are still in the process of working with the lender. I didn't want a short sale but this was the first house walking into that felt like it was the one we could live comfortably in. Now I just have to hope it works out. If it falls through I may look for a new buyers agent. Sometimes I feel like I am inconveniencing them.
I'd say 15-20 for first time home buyers and more like 5-10 for experienced home buyers. I actually tell my first timers that they should look at 10-15 before even considering writing an offer because they have zero house knowledge. They just don't even know what kind of options they have in their price range. Most heed that advice and it works to their benefit. I had one young family that was thinking they wanted a certain house, but I didn't think it was going to sell fast because it was weird so I asked them to get through our 10. We went on two more days of home searching and went into a house that would have given the wife a sewing room. Something they didn't think they could have. Now she has a sewing business and makes a decent salary staying at home with the kids. All because they waited.
My favorite words as an agent are "this seems overpriced" or "this is well priced." Then I know my clients have the basics for the current market. Every agent is different, but I would rather show more houses and clients be solid on that house, rather than showing fewer and writing a bunch of offers on homes that fail.
5 is nothing.
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