There’s a
new breed of buyer in the market. It’s
the buyer who doesn’t care, and if you end up competing with him, you will
lose.
The buyer
who doesn’t care is fed up with spending Saturday after Saturday looking at
homes, writing offers, and getting nothing.
He’s fed up with watching prices rise while he sits on the
sidelines. He’s fed up with watching his
future monthly payments go up via rising rates.
He’s fed up with haggling over nickels and dimes while the opportunity
cost of waiting is counted in hundreds and thousands.
He’s tired
of expending the mental energy. He’s
come to terms with the fact it’s a competitive market, especially below
$300,000. He doesn’t want to miss any
more of his kids’ softball games or dance recitals while he’s out chasing the
latest “deal”.
And so, when
he gets to this point, he is simply going to do what it takes to win.
I have had a
few buyers who don’t care anymore in my car this year. They are not there anymore, I’m pleased to
say, as they are now home enjoying themselves on the weekends instead of
sitting in Starbucks at the end of another long day throwing together the
details of yet another purchase contract.
But I have
been on both sides of it. I have lost numerous
homes and deals this year when competing against buyers who don’t care, because
frankly, they don’t care. If my client
chooses to go conservative and someone else chooses to go all-in, we’re going
to lose. That’s just the way it is in 2013.
The point of
this is not to say that the buyer who doesn’t care is good… or bad. It is simply to educate you to the fact he is
out there, he’s looking at many of the same houses you are, and for him, the
search is going to end today.
He’s reached
a point where it’s no longer fun. He
knows he wants a house. He knows the
market is hot. He knows that a good
market will make even marginal decisions look wise. And so he quit worrying about the minutia and
negativity that control people’s minds in a down market.
He’s going
to buy a house. And he doesn’t care
anymore.
