Have you seen Everest? The movie not the mountain. I knew what to expect because I had read the book Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer which recounted the same story, but the movie was still very much worth seeing.  A couple days after seeing the movie I vaguely remembered Krakauer mentioning the name of a fellow climber who I knew from summers in the Laurentians when I was a kid. It’s funny how the brain works.

So I pulled out my copy of the book and checked the index for my friend’s name. Sure enough, there it was. It wasn’t a close or long lasting friendship so I haven’t been in touch with him for almost 40 years, but I Googled him just the same. Up came several articles with his account of the expedition. I won’t divulge any details in case you haven’t seen the movie or read the book yet, but one thing struck me more than anything else. He said he decided not to try for the summit because mountaineering to him is about the act of climbing and not reaching a destination.

Often when I hear things I ask myself “How does that relate to real estate?” I suppose that’s natural given how much time I spend thinking about real estate. In this case the answer was obvious to me:

Buying a new home should be fun. (Wasn’t it obvious to you, too?) I’ve always felt this way. It should be an adventure. You get to shop around, see how other people live and get decorating and renovating ideas. It’s a privilege you’ve worked hard to obtain. Not everyone can afford to buy a home and not everyone gets to live in such a great city. It shouldn’t be a chore or something you dread doing. After all, it’s almost always something you yourself have chosen to do.

Yes, I know it can be frustrating at times, especially in today’s market. You may have to take some time from your already jam packed day to look at homes and you may have to spend time making offers that aren’t successful. But how many times in your life are you going to buy a home?

“Wait!” you say, “My situation is different. I NEED a new home by a specific date.” Sometimes this is true and sometimes the deadline isn’t quite etched in stone. First, determine if you really need a home by a certain date or if that’s what you want. There’s a big difference.

If it’s what you want, then realize that any pressure you’re feeling is self-imposed and even though you may be inconvenienced if you don’t find a home by that date, there are worse things that can happen to you.

If, on the other hand, you do in fact have a hard deadline, now’s the time to lean on your Realtor for support and guidance. Hopefully you hired your Realtor for his or her expertise. Ask your Realtor to tell you how likely you are to meet your deadline, what you should do to improve your chances, what your backup plan should be and how you’re progressing. Having this information will help put your mind at ease and help you make the right decisions to ensure you achieve your goals. At the end of the day, you’re the only one who can decide whether or not to buy any particular home. If you decide not to buy any of the homes you see which would allow you to meet your deadline, at least you’ll know you had all the facts at hand and made that decision of your own free will.

When you’re having fun, you’re more likely to make better decisions because pressure can lead to mistakes. In today’s market there are plenty of buyers who wake up feeling huge remorse the day after buying a home. It could be that they feel they overpaid or didn’t get what they really wanted. Just this afternoon Corinne was telling me about three deals that were terminated this week when the buyer backed out shortly after buying a home. (Fortunately, none of these deals involved any of our clients.) I don’t know the details, but there’s a good chance these buyers weren’t enjoying the process and regretted the hasty decisions they’d made under pressure.

One of the things I look for in a client is what I call “the fun factor”. I always ask myself “How much fun am I going to have with these people?” When I practiced law I didn’t get to choose my clients. They were given to me by the more senior lawyers. Some of those clients were more enjoyable to work with than others so I promised myself that when I ran my own business, which was always my plan, I would only work with people I like. I’ve never forgotten that.

When it comes time to buy your next home, remember to have fun. Don’t look at it as a chore to cross off your list as soon as you can. Enjoy the process. Things will probably turn out better for you.

I can’t promise you a party every night, but I can promise you that I always do my best to make the house hunt fun and as stress free as possible. If you know anyone who’d like to receive the kind of help that involves honest answers, straightforward advice, no pressure and being treated like family, please let me know the best way for me to connect with them because I’d like to offer them this kind of help. And as always, don’t be shy if you have any questions or comments about this post! Thanks for reading.