(CHEROKEE LAKE REALTY WRITES A WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE GRAINGER COUNTY JOURNAL NEWSPAPER. THIS WAS A RECENT QUESTION ASKED BY A READER.)
A lot. Photos can be misleading. Very few agents are going to show you bad photos of a home they are trying to sell. How does the land lay? How is the neighborhood? How is the road to the property? What’s close by? How big are the rooms, will your furniture work? If I may make a joke… If one is looking for a friend for life and you see a photo of someone living in another state, will you make a commitment without visiting and meeting the person?
But it happens. I sold homes where an agent showed up, took more photos per the client’s request, then proceeded to make an offer and purchased the home. Without ever stepping foot in the home. Wow. At least a friend for life you can kiss goodbye. Kinda tough to walk away from a home you bought if you find something you can’t live with once you’re living in it.
So, here is what I recommend. Yes, look at photos, whittle down the number of homes you want to consider. Then, do lots of research. And I do mean lots. When I moved here in the 90’s there were none of the research tools that are available now. I made trip after trip to look at properties. Today, you can cut down on some of those trips. There are apps that can zoom in on the neighborhood and the areas around the neighborhood. Is there a landfill close by that might annoy you? Is the property in a flood zone or an area prone to sinkholes? You can time how far away hospitals, grocery stores, and restaurants are. If the home was custom built, you can track down a floor plan for room measurements. Then, and most importantly, once you have come up with several “finalists” visit the homes. Yes, I realize that if you live in California this is not easy. But would you rather spend a few thousand dollars on airfare and hotels, or wind up buying a property that will conceivably cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars and you wind up regretting your purchase for years to come? Once you are visiting, take all the research you pulled and check everything out first-hand. Boots on the ground. All this should allow you to reduce the number of finalists and help you decide on which one you wish to make an offer on. And if none of these fit the bill, then go back home, and start again. Don’t rush into making a purchase because you are here and don’t want to come back for a second trip. The average person will only own 3 homes in their LIFETIME. And when you add to that fact that you are moving to a new state with a bunch of unknowns, finding THE home becomes even more important.
One last thing, there is no perfect home. Not here, not anywhere. What works for you today, may not work for you down the road. If you are looking for the perfect home, then perhaps you should build from scratch. But, again, the perfect home you build today may turn out to be too large, or too small, or not have enough garage spaces, etc., later. Some time ago I sold a home to clients where the most important thing was for them to have storage on the property for their large RV. Guess what. Later, they wound up selling their RV, didn’t need the extra heated storage and wanted to downsize. They sold the home. Keep all this in mind.
