A Realtor’s Tale of Buying a Home: His Own

Buying a home is one of the biggest decisions a person makes in life, even if you’re a Realtor! My fiancé Elysia and I have been on the casual home hunt for what seems like forever with our tastes ranging from condos in the heart of the city, to row homes in Petworth and the H Street NE Area, as well as single family homes outside the District lines.

If I meet clients and they’re considering this many options,  the first thing I usually tell them is they need to try and narrow their search down and figure out what are the most important characteristics of a home they can see themselves in. In the last few months of our home search when I considered myself a “serious buyer,” I had to take this advice myself.

First item of business was space. We’ve lived in a small apartment on U Street for close to eight years now. It’s reached the point where if we buy an item, then something has to be donated or tossed, so space was the number one factor in our search. Goodbye condos in our hunt for a home.

Like many buyers, we had to compromise.  Our priority for a house ruled out our current location on U Street, which we love. We considered some fixer-upper row homes that were off the beaten path, but found they didn’t offer the city amenities that we love and enjoy.  What we love about city life is the walk-ability and while these homes were in the city, they didn’t offer the metro, restaurants, and shopping that we’ve come so accustomed to with our life on U Street. Next stop, Maryland!

We’ve found the area we want to live, let’s get to the fun part and find the house. Hmm…not that easy. After a few solid months of concentrating on the Silver Spring area, two offers (Yes! Even Realtors don’t get the exact property they want), and contemplating giving up altogether, the perfect house popped up on our search. The third house was the charm! Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, living room, dining room, a finished basement, huge kitchen, and a back yard! Less than a 15 minute walk from our house is the metro, multiple restaurants, and shopping.  We found it!

Now it’s time to make an offer. Since both my fiancé and I are Realtors, we represented ourselves. Let’s just say that I have first-hand knowledge of why it is important to have someone not a party to the transaction negotiate the details.  Even with our knowledge of the process and having done this countless times for our clients, Elysia and I found our own emotions seeping into the negotiations. However, after four days of negotiations, we came to an agreement with the sellers

Our next stop on the way to settlement was our home inspection. We were lucky not to have any  major issues during our inspection. However, there were small items that we found ourselves disagreeing with the sellers over. I had to take my own advice that I give buyers during the home inspection period and not let myself get caught up in little items that don’t effect the overall functioning of the home. Small repairs here and there are nothing to lose sleep or a deal over, so I had to swallow my pride and move along rather than getting caught up in minor flaws of the home.

Settlements usually occur 30 to 60 days after coming to terms between buyers and sellers. The sellers preferred to settle within 30 days which we were able to do. A lender that I work with on a regular basis and refer many of my clients to was confident he could finalize the loan in this time frame and the sooner we could settle, the quicker we would be able to move into the home. Settlement typically lasts an hour and this is when you as the buyer go over all final loan information and officially take ownership of the property you purchased.

The sellers also wanted to do something called a rent-back. Even though we had settlement and were the new owners of the home, we were actually going to rent the home back to the sellers while they searched for a new place to buy. Purchasing their home gave them the funds they needed to move ahead and make an offer. We’re doing this for a term of 60 days which will allow us to move in at the end of June.

It’s one thing to listen, guide, and help someone buy a home.  It’s another to experience it first-hand. This home search has given me a peek at what my clients are thinking and going through during this often stressful yet rewarding time of someone’s life. Much like a doctor who becomes a patient, I have newfound understanding for the emotional rollercoaster that is part of the process and I know it will make me an even better agent.