Creating A Real Estate Vision

I come across a lot of potential homebuyers who often tell me, "I'd like to buy a home maybe some time next year."  I often hear the same sentiment come from sellers who are thinking about selling, "Hopefully when the market gets better next year perhaps.  Let's just wait and see."

Sure, there are some really valid reasons for waiting.  People have to save up money to buy a home.  Kids would be better off to finish the school year in the same school.  Moving right now may logistically be too difficult.

But there are some people who are waiting out of fear.  They fear the unknown, which paralyzes them from moving forward.  They are worried that the real estate market either hasn't bottomed out yet (for buyers) or is set to move higher soon (for sellers).  They don't know what the process entails and are scared to commit to anything or any one agent right now.

I get it, because I personally go through this as well with other things...like when trying to figure out whether I should buy the iPhone4.  Are there any bugs in it that still need to be fixed?  Will a better phone come along in the meantime?  Do I REALLY need this phone?  And don't get me started on the internal discussion I have about the iPad...

Anyway, the point is that fear can hold us back from taking action.  Sometimes the result may be that no action should be taken at all right now, and that's fine.  But until we get clear on that, we still will be wishing to buy or sell a home and get frustrated as more time passes by.

So here's one way to combat all that: create a real estate vision.

This exercise is simple but powerful.  Just set aside 10-15 minutes to write a letter to someone that you know and care about, sharing with them all the wonderful things that have happened to you in the past 18 months.  But instead of writing it as of today, write it as of it was18 months into the future.  Refer to events in the past tense for things that you envision to happen to you.

Here's an example:

"Dear Kobe,

I absolutely can't believe how wonderful life is for me right now!  I was able to improve my credit score by 100 points and buy a beautiful house in Irvine.  This house has everything I love: high ceilings, granite countertops, spacious bedrooms, a nice and private backyard, an open floorplan, and a huge garage.  We were able to decorate it just in time for the holidays this year, and we all had such a fantastic time together.  My commute to work is minimal now, which allows me to get home sooner after work to spend some quality time with my kids."

Try it yourself now.  It doesn't have to be grammatically correct.  Just write it all down and see what happens.  How do you feel now?

Cover your real estate dreams in there.  Talk about what you envision for your family.  Describe the things you would own, the experiences that you'd have, the people who you'd impact, the charity work that you may have done.  Be open to the possibilities of what your life can be like...then put it in writing.

Once you complete this exercise, print out a copy for you to read right after you wake up every morning and right before you go to bed at night.  Read it out loud if you can.  Then watch how your "story" unfolds over time.  Of course you'll have to take steps to achieve whatever you wrote down -- if you write down that you win the lottery but never buy a lottery ticket, your vision may not happen for you, at least not the way you've written it.  But once you read your vision in the morning, you'll be more likely to buy that lottery ticket.  Or perhaps something else will show up in your life that will be equally as good or better.

So if you're just thinking about buying or selling a home right now, why not add it to your vision letter and see what happens.

For more info on buying or selling a home in the Orange County area, please feel free to contact me.