Choices too much for today’s WNY home buyers?

Posted by Colleen Kulikowski, Licensed Real Estate Salesperson (716) 650-0051 on Jan 12, 2012 in Depew Homes, Home Seller Resources, Kenmore, Real Estate News | 6 comments

Choices for Buyers can be confusing

Why Home Buyers are Sitting on the Fence

Awhile back, I read a great article over at Daud Miracle that I find timely in the world of Real Estate. Buyers want to search on-line for a home, but in doing so they can easily be overwhelmed.

Are Your Customers Sick & Tired of Choice? brought up an exceptional point. In it he pointed out: “Yet, according to Barry Schwartz, choice is a paradox. While it’s great to have options, he observed that options often lead to bad decisions, dissatisfaction in what  has been chosen or a paralysis to taking action.”

Read Also: So many choices: What to do? What to do?

I have written about Analysis Paralysis in the past. With so many choices in Real Estate it can create a paralysis for buyers. You have to wonder if they are not experiencing choice overload in this Real Estate market. In the confusion many times they hope that by waiting just a little longer that the perfect home will come along. By the time they are ready to act, the home that they really wanted is sold and they are disappointed. The process of purchasing a home should be a fun time, but in making such significant decisions can be draining. In Science Daily further support this theory: “In other words, even if people are having fun making decisions, their cognitive functions are still being depleted with every choice they make.”

Read Also: Too Many Choices — Good Or Bad — Can Be Mentally Exhausting

Think about the number of choices a person needs to make in the purchase of a home after they select a Realtor® and qualify for their mortgage. They have to decide:

• Although they can afford a certain amount, do they really want to stretch that much

• Where they are going to live, is it going to be in the or out in the country in ?

• Do they want a brand new home or an older home that will need renovations?

• What features are required, and what would be nice?

• How soon do they want to move?

Think like a Buyer for a moment

These buyers may have to imagine how the space that they are viewing is really what they want. Once they find the perfect home, they have to formulate an offer and go through the negotiation process. If they are not working with a Realtor® they may pay too much for a home, or not successfully negotiate the home that they want.  It is your job as the home seller to remove the obstacles for these buyers and make your home the right choice for them.

Read Also: New Study Shows That Act of Choosing Leads to Mental Fatigue, Decreased Productivity

Too often I see Buyers making either bad decisions or never finding something that they want to purchase. They seem to find it difficult to settle on criteria. Buyers often find it difficult to weed through the choices and never want to remove homes from the selection. This could result in so many choices that selecting the right home could become overwhelming. In the process they may see something that changes the criteria. Buyers can easily be distracted and that is why you need to work with an objective professional to guide you through the maze of confusion that finding the right home can be.

Read Also: Too Many Choices, Too Little Time

Agents at times make it more difficult by not ensuring that the home buyers narrow their search.  They allow them to search too broadly.   They spend hours on the Internet looking at the possibilities, and dreaming about a better life. I work a little differently with buyers.   I force them to narrow their criteria and I encourage them to find something else to do in the evenings instead of spending hours on the Internet.   They have hired a professional to find them a home, the right home.   They need to trust that.   Often what people are saying they want and what they really want are very different.   After showing homes what they say they want often I take them to a home the next time that is exactly what they desire — and is very different to what they said they liked.

Perhaps it was a lot easier before computers. Let me leave you with this last thought that Violent Acres post Too Much Choice is Hell

“The moral here is simple. A few choices are good; too many choices are pure hell.“

To assist you with all the Real Estate choices you have, please email me or call me at (716) 650-0051 to set up a time to sit down and discuss your needs and how I can assist you in achieving your Real Estate goals.