Ellicott City Realtor Catonsville Realtor

Sometimes I Have to Ask Myself....Am I a Realtor, or a Therapist?  I'm working with a young couple, first time buyers, about to get married.  I will call them Abby and Charles*.  We're sitting down at our first appointment and I am explaining the Home Buying Process.

The first question I always ask my clients is "What's Most Important to You?", and the second question I always ask is "How do you make decisions?"  When I ask this of my two young clients, they took a moment to look at each other, then looked back at me and replied in unison "I don't know."

So, I take a moment to ask them how did it work the last time they made a big purchase together, such as with their car?  Again, they took a moment to look at each other, then looked back at me, and again in unison, "I don't know."

Since the first question I had asked was "What's Most Important to You", I knew they were on the same page with the big things - they both wanted to be near good schools, in a good location and have an easy commute.  For Abby, this was clearly Catonsville.  For Charles, it was obviously Elkridge.  It was clear to me that although they had talked about buying a home, they had not come to a conclusion on the specifics.  On this one point, they simply didn't agree.

So, time to put on the Therapist's Hat.  I ask Charles what's important about Elkridge to him?  He replies that his family lives there, he cuts his grandmother's lawn on Saturdays, he has a new godchild that lives there in a neighborhood he finds appealing, and it's a close commute to downtown.  Abby's reply to this?  "I didn't know how important those things were to you."  I then asked Charles how flexible he could be in his choice of location, on a scale of 1 - 10.  He replied that he was willing to be flexible, as long as it wasn't too far.

I then repeated the process with Abby.  After listening to my conversation with Charles, although she really liked Catonsville, she seemed to be just as flexible.

I always go through this process with my buyers.  I find out what's most important to them, how they make decisions, and what they've talked about amongst themselves.  It was obvious that Abby and Charles had talked about buying a home, but not about what was most important to each of them.  In talking about it in my office, before we looked at homes, and before emotions ran high, hopefully it will be easier for Abby and Charles to make a decision down the road.

So is it Real Estate, or Therapy?  Perhaps a little bit of both.  In the end, as long as Abby and Charles are happily settled in their first home, I don't really care what you call it.

*Although my buyers have agreed to share their story, their names have been changed for privacy purposes.