As you begin your search for a new home in St. Louis, just remember that patience is an advantage for the St. Louis home buyer.  This may run counter to what you believe, but I will demonstrate with an example.

Agent Mr. Quick, Buy a Home Now

Let’s say you are represented by real estate agent Mr. Quick in St. Louis.  You call him because you saw his ad on Google.  When you get through, you don’t talk to Mr. Quick.  You talk to someone else in Mr. Quick’s office.  No matter, you think.  Mr. Quick is obviously the best real estate agent in St. Louis because he is at the top of Google.  When you ask to see houses, Mr. Quick’s assistant takes you to three houses and tells you to pick one.  You pick the first one you see and Mr Quick’s assistant agrees that this is obviously the best home for you and you should pay exactly what the asking price is.  At the closing table, Mr. Quick’s assistant hands you the keys to your new home.  You never saw Mr. Quick through the entire home buying process and you only saw three houses.  It’s not known if Mr. Quick is even alive or a real person.

Agent Sally Takeshertime

Your best friend calls real estate agent Sally Takeshertime.  Before looking at any houses, agent Sally informs your friend that there are many houses available, and that she would be happy to show you anything you’d like to see.  She says that patience is an advantage for a St. Louis home buyer, even in the hottest market in a decade.  Your friend doesn’t know what that means but she is happy to know that Sally isn’t pushing her into making a decision she doesn’t want to make.  The first weekend out looking at houses for sale, you friend doesn’t see anything they want to buy.  The second weekend is the same, but she is starting to see the correlation between asking price and expectations.  For example, one house is in the same neighborhood as another.  The house with a level back yard is priced the same as a house where the back yard goes into a ravine.  Your friend realizes instantly that the house with the level yard has more value than the other house, therefore the other house shouldn’t be priced exactly the same.

The Advantage Of Patience

In the two examples above, both groups bought a house.  The buyer working with Sally is going to be far more confident in their decision than the buyer who worked with Mr. Quick.  Actually, his assistant!  A lot of first time home buyers go into the process thinking that houses are like a box of cereal at the grocery store, and they just pick the one that is the cheapest.  The problem comes when they realize that houses actually aren’t a box of generic fruit loops.  A house built 100 years ago has likely had many owners, who improved or didn’t improve the home over time.  Given this wide array of possible choices within even a single neighborhood, working with real estate agent Sally, who is patient, and understands the market is without question the best option.

Deerwood Realty Patience advantage

At Deerwood Realty, we understand how our buyers think.  We actually take the time to learn what our buyers want and educate them on how they can get it in each marketplace.  This is called the Deerwood Realty Advantage.  We’ve found our clients who have bought or sold houses in the past aren’t used to this level of service.  They actually can’t believe they were lucky enough to find us, and they typically are our biggest fans in our community.  Having been in the real estate business for many years, we know how many real estate offices work.  Some are great; others not so much.  If you feel like you are being pushed into a decision to buy a home, and you aren’t comfortable, STOP.  Don’t sign anything, and give us a call.  We’d rather you make such an important decision on your terms and not be rushed.  Remember, patience is an advantage for a St. Louis home buyer.