The Goldilocks home buyer…..emotionally just right!
There are two extremes when it comes to home buyer personalities. There’s the cold, calculating and dollar savvy buyer at one extreme while at the other we have the 100% emotional buyer who’s completely in love with the whole home ownership thing. When you are buying a home that you intent to live in, neither of these are good. Take your cue from Goldilocks!
The emotionless buyer
This species is usually an experienced investor who has zero emotional attachment to the property. He is strictly looking at it from a financial perspective. He is looking to buy the home for the absolute minimum and turn it into an investment opportunity by either flipping or renting it. He will never actually live in the home so it doesn’t have to meet his own personal tastes. The only time he will get emotional is when the profits he was projecting come in lower than expected.
The 100% emotional buyer
This is the same species of buyer that orders a set of stake knives from a Sunday afternoon infomercial (plus the 2nd set, “just pay extra shipping and handling”). When the knives actually arrive two months later, he can’t understand why the hell he ordered them in the first place! He suddenly falls in love with the whole notion of home ownership and the warm and fuzzy feeling that it bestows upon him. Researching the pros and cons of such an acquisition are considered a waste of time.
Enter Goldilocks
Obviously, the two extremes outlined above are a bit of an exaggeration but they help demonstrate a point. Whether you are buying your first, second or third home it is virtually impossible to reach a state of emotional minimalism associated with the professional investor. As with a lot of things we buy, the purchase process can have a large emotional element and this applies particularly to buying a home. While the whole experience should be fun and get you a little giddy you’ll also need to be subjective and just a little bit ruthless so you end up with a home that actually meets your specific needs. Know what you want and stay focused!
Goldilocks is approximately 25% emotional, fun and giddiness but also 75% savvy, prepared and knows what she wants. Just right!
