6 Signs a Home Might Be "The One"
Kevan Lewis - HomeLife Benchmark Realty
Buying a home can be stressful, and many buyer's will look at over 15 homes before they find "The One"
Just like there are plenty of fish in the sea, there are plenty of homes on the market, or coming on the market soon, that might be "The One" and the best part of that is exactly as it sounds. Buyer's only need to find ONE home that is right for them!
So how do you know which home is right for you? Check out six signs that the home your are looking at might be "The One"
1. You have an overwhelming feeling that the home is already yours.
When you're out house hunting and you happen to walk into "The One", you'll often get a feeling in the back of your mind that will make you do anything within reason to make that home your own. If you're at an open house, you suddenly feel as if all the other visitors are competition.
If you leave the home with an overwhelming feeling of making it your own, I think it is safe to say that you found "The One"
2. You start to see its flaws as adorable quirks.
Train tracks 10 feet from the bedroom window? Next door neighbor that runs a pigeon-sitting service? Okay – I exaggerate! But if you find yourself viewing a home with traits that you would normally deem undesirable or as deal-killers, yet you like the place so much that you instinctively compile a mental list of reasons those traits just don't matter, you might have found "The One."
Smart buyers should be aware of a syndrome some call "Pottery Barn Psychosis," whereby the aesthetics of a wonderfully staged home with amazing curb appeal can hypnotize a buyer. This syndrome renders buyers blind to the negative property features, which would be glaring or grave concerns if the place weren't so stinking cute. It's fine to make a conscious decision that the pros of a place outweigh its cons, and even to consciously re-rank your priorities in light of a particular property's advantages.
But throwing reasonable guidelines for your home out of the window because it's just so stinking cute is about as savvy as doing the same with your dating prospects – not a setup for success.
Buyers can avoid falling victim to Pottery Barn Psychosis (and the Buyer's Remorse that often follows it) by writing down your absolute musts and deal-breakers before you ever step foot in a single property – and by revisiting this document before you write an offer and again before you remove your subjects.
If you find yourself viewing a home with traits that you would normally deem undesirable, yet you like the place so much that you instinctively compile a mental list of reasons those traits just don't matter, you might have found "The One."
3. You immediately envision your own family, furniture, and decor in the home.
If you find yourself, during a property viewing, measuring the dining room with your footsteps to be sure your Grandma's table will fit, discussing whether the wall between kitchen and dining room can be removed or your mind's eye photoshopping a given property to insert your bedroom set, your dining table and favorite wall hangings into place it's entirely possible that the home you're viewing could be "The One" for you.
4. You lose interest in seeing other homes.
When you find "The One," your interest in seeing other homes dissipates, instantly – no matter how many homes you've seen or how long you've been house hunting.
5. The bathroom and kitchen don't disgust you.
We humans are born with only two fears in life: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. By about eight months old, we start to acquire new fears. Chief among them: the fear of other people's kitchens and bathrooms.
Other people's kitchens and bathrooms hold definite gross-out potential. There's just something about what goes on in those rooms that seems exceptionally intimate and even unsanitary. So, if you happen to find yourself falling in love with a home's river rock shower floor or drooling over the pot-filler, countertop or farmhouse sink, that's a sign that you're falling head over heels with a home that might just be "The One."
6. The money, time and energy spent feels worth it.
Home buying is an expensive, time consuming proposition. And your years of budgeting of earned you a nice nest egg, but it didn't come easy, there might be many a Saturday night at home and a brown bagged lunch reflected in your down payment savings. If you view a home that make all of those sacrifices suddenly feel like the best, most worthwhile decision ever? You, my friend, might have found "The One."
