7 Dwarfs of Real Estate
When Becky and I were originally discussing creating a blog for our website, I had recently lost a sale. I told her that I was choosing to be Grumpy about it. I had worked many long hours — several months, actually — to locate a place for this client, and the negotiations simply evaporated. She said something uplifting, like to move past this disappointment, things will work out, I should be Happy.
And then it dawned on me. There are 7 dwarfs operating in real estate, and both agents and clients inhabit the roles upon occasion. So here’s my stab at the ways in which each dwarf might be represented — in no particular order.
If you are moving to middle Tennessee, particularly to Nashville, you are likely to meet Sneezy. According to WebMD, “Tennessee is where everything [speaking of allergens] comes together.” Nashville ranks #47 in the nation on the list of allergy-affected cities, and shockingly, Chattanooga ranks #3! We have a long growing season, a temperate climate, and lots of rain — which means one can “expect to sneeze a lot!” Southern trees — oak, cedar, birch, hickory, and pecan — begin dispersing their pollen as early as February. I’ll bet more than one of our readers has had the experience of having to turn on the windshield wipers to remove the dusty yellow pollen on a sunny April day.
But you’ve decided on Tennessee, and you want a great home. Sometimes clients are Bashful about admitting to your realtor exactly how much money you have to devote to the down payment or to the price of the house. Please don’t be troubled about your level of finances: it does no one any good if we offer half-a-million-dollar houses when you can only afford a $150K house. We respect your financial picture. That’s why one of the first pieces of advice we offer to our clients is to go get yourself pre-approved. Touch base with a mortgage lender (and yes, we can recommend some great ones), and simply find out what’s going to be comfortable. That’s all it takes.
So we begin looking for houses in your price range. We find one that is a great fit; it meets all your criteria and you can already imagine how super your sideboard will look placed against that wall, and how you want to plant petunias right there. If the house is a hit, then don’t get too Sleepy or reticent about it. The real estate market in Nashville has turned HOT; both of us have seen listings posted one day that sold within 24-36 hours, fast, fast, fast. You may not have the luxury to “sleep on it.” Once your heart tells you “this is it,” you need to be ready to pull the trigger.
And along those same lines, you also don’t want to submit a Dopey offer. I had found a great place for my client that was listed just short of $180K. She offered $156K. In truth, I was almost embarrassed to submit that offer; I was pretty sure that the sellers would easily check the “REJECT” box, but they counteroffered, knocking $1,000 off the original price. Now we learn something about negotiations. Had my client’s original offer not been quite so dopey, we could have arrived much more quickly at something agreeable to all.
As it was, however, the deal fell through, leaving me, the client, and the sellers Grumpy. In my armchair analysis, I ended up feeling a little like a Doc, because I genuinely knew what medicine would have saved this “patient.” No one approaches real estate as a big game or as a chance to practice one’s debating skills. Our lives, our hopes, our hearts are all involved; we don’t want conflict, we want smooth sailing. We want a nice home where we can feel safe and proud of where we are, for ourselves and for our children. That’s the idea behind why the real estate agent is involved in the first place: to help things move along smoothly, efficiently, hassle-free. Yep, in the final analysis, we all just want to be Happy.
Oh, did anyone besides me think about the Lumineers’ Ho, Hey song?
You have to experience Lennon and Maisy Stella singing it: Fabulous!