Eliades, looked at houses for years. “You name it, I looked at it,” Eliades said. “There was something just not right. The yard was too big. The yard was too small. It was too far from town.” Eventually, he found the perfect Victorian home that met his needs and even had extras, such as a wraparound porch and an active, vibrant community with neighbors and a nearby grocery store. “Sometimes you have to shop around to get a firm handle on what you like — and dislike — and what your market has to offer,” Sager noted. “Don’t think of it as wasted time if it takes a while for the right house to appear; consider it time well spent honing your house-hunting skills.” Some home shoppers struggle for years to find the right home, no matter how much online research they do or how many onsite visits. Lynne Freda and her husband ended up buying a home that wasn’t even for sale. One day, they were driving with their agent. Suddenly Freda’s husband saw a house and exclaimed that itwas theone; however, the home wasn’t listed or on the market. “The real estate agent said she’d sold the house to the owners and offered to check in to see if they were ready to move on,” writes Sager. They discovered that the owners had been thinking about moving because the husband got a new job offer. Freda and her husband looked inside and were sold, gave an offer, and bought the home. Don’t settle for something that’s just close to what you need. “If you spot your dream house, but it isn’t for sale, it never hurts to ask,” Sager reports. The point here is that every buyer’s home-search process is different. What happens or works for one buyer won’t necessarily be the case for another. Don’t feel pressure because of something that worked out for someone you know. Purchasing or renting a home is likely going to be one of the largest financial investments you will make in your lifetime. Don’t settle, don’t make a hasty
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