"Buyers Are Liars"

In this business there is a common phrase: "Buyers are Liars".

It's certainly not because people are intentionally being misleading. It's usually because either they don't know what they really want or, more commonly, there are many factors to buying a home and, "I'll know it when I see it...”, is the predominant and most common thought!

I once had a client, for example, who told me when looking for a single-family home for himself and his family, that they absolutely did NOT want to see any ramblers. Absolutely no ramblers. None.

So, over a period of the next couple months we looked at dozens of MN homes together: 2 stories, split entries… every kind except ramblers - and they just couldn't find a house they liked...

Finally (after we'd spent enough time together) I asked him what it was that he didn't like about ramblers. The story he told me was all about the house he grew up in. It was positively riddled with complications -it was messy and dirty, had water, bugs and even rodents in their poorly-maintained unfinished basement - it actually sounds like it was quite frightening to him as a young boy… (I might even have nightmares about HIS basement!)

But his story had nothing to do with most of the ramblers actually on the market, many with beautifully finished, light walk-out basements - with nothing scary about them in the least!

After hearing this, I searched around on the Minneapolis MLS for a while to look at the same area we'd been looking in, but specifically ramblers that fit his qualifications otherwise. I found several that were in his price range and looked like they'd fit the bill (so to speak) except that they were ramblers. I asked his permission on our next showing date to show him a few local-ramblers while we're out seeing these others "just to compare dollar to dollar", I think I said. I picked out some very nice places (with fully finished basements) for him and his family to see.

Well, that was it! That very same day they found their dream home (and low and behold) it was a rambler!

I guess it's sometimes true that "buyers are liars" - because in order to find this client what he wanted, I had to do something that was the OPPOSITE of what he said he wanted...