Are you a nervous buyer? Welcome to the club!

It's natural to be nervous. Read this to combat those nerves.

Are you a nervous buyer? Welcome to the club. Come on in and make yourself at home.

I’ve yet to meet a buyer who isn’t nervous about buying property. It’s a big deal! 
It doesn’t matter if you’re buying your first home or you’re a few rounds in, it’s nerve wracking. I’ll never sugar coat that for anyone. It’s also perfectly normal. I have been providing professional real estate services full time for about 12 years now and whenever I’m buying a piece of property for myself, I am on pins and needles, I get heightened emotionally and frankly, I just want the experience to be over. But you know what else? It’s always the best thing I’ve ever done! I’ve also never met a buyer who regretted buying a house. 

When else in your life are you spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on anything? Most of us scoff at a dinner bill!. I do anyway. Go fill a prescription, with or without insurance and wow, it’s a lot of money. Don’t even get me started on the cost of groceries these days. I remember getting a week's worth of regular groceries for $50! (Ya, I’m getting old). 

Our hard earned funds are very sacred to us. Like little magical pieces of paper and metal coins and digital signals that belong to us and that we can turn into almost anything we desire! We don’t want to waste it because it took us so long to get it! Add to that cold hard cash a giant loan from a big bank or faceless lender and that’s a recipe for our nervous system to go into overdrive. 

None of us want to get “taken” either. We don’t want to pay too much. Almost everyone lights up and feels like they can take on the world when they get a deal. It’s a great feeling. It’s how many people imagine their real estate journey will be. Then reality sets in when you start looking. You view homes that need repair, maybe are in “up and coming” areas or neighbourhoods you’re not quite familiar with and ya, it’s stressful. 

Lastly, the majority of people don’t know the buying process. Professional REALTORS(R) do this day in and day out. You don’t, so how can you possibly expect yourself to know how this all works? It’s our job to educate you and guide you through the process. It’s like me going to your place of work-I’m going to have a million and a half questions and feel like a total fish out of water and very nervous…until someone guides me through the process.

So how do you combat the nerves? Is it even possible? 
I’ll start by saying there are definitely different intensity levels of nervousness. You should be a little nervous. When my clients aren’t at a least a little anxious or stressed, I worry if they are even serious about buying a house. Everyone is. It’s completely expected. 

Yes, you can combat your nerves, and it’s pretty simple. Probably easier than you think. Your real estate buying journey does not start with driving by houses and calling listing agents for the details. It starts with number one-finding out if you can afford to buy a house and for how much. Then number two, finding a reputable real estate agent who is equipped to guide you through the process from start to finish and beyond. Someone who will be available to you, willing and able to answer your questions and frankly make it an enjoyable experience. I pride myself in my personal purpose as a real estate agent. I keep you safe, comfortable and calm. I support and educate you because I am your resource.

Bring on questions. It calms the nerves! 
The more you learn about anything, the less afraid and apprehensive you are about it. That’s just how us human beings work. So ask away! I LOVE educating and answering questions. I never pretend I know everything and neither should you. There really are no silly questions. 

I put each new buyer through a pretty thorough questionnaire so I can see where they are in their journey, how they think, what they’re looking for in a real estate agent and gauge how much they already know about the process. Only then do we start talking more in depth about what type of home they’re looking for and where. My buyers are told right from our first conversation that they are welcome to call, text, message or email me whenever they want. Depending on the time of day (I don’t answer the phone in the middle of the night, lol) I will get back to them promptly within an acceptable time frame. This sets the expectation for all of us. Actually, the first time I added this to my buyer conversations, my buyer thanked me! I wasn’t expecting that. When I asked why, she said it made her feel like if she texts me, she’s not bothering me and it made her feel very free to ask me anything she wanted. Perfect! That’s exactly what we all want. 

So go ahead, be nervous, just make sure you have the right professional real estate agent guiding you and ask a TON of questions! We love it! 
When you have questions, call me if you’re not already working with another reputable REALTOR(R). I’m ready to guide you to your next home.