What's Love Got to Do With Real Estate?

Valentine’s Day in the United States focuses people on love.  Tina Turner belted the now famous song:  What’s Love Got To Do With It” and I would like to apply that theme to real estate.  Is there any place for love in the purchase and sale of real property?  I believe there is.  There is an old saying that most people buy on emotion and justify the decision on logic.

I have seen the glimmer of love in the eye of a buyer when looking at homes.  There is usually something about the home that triggers a positive memory from the person’s past.  For example, I showed one young couple a number of townhomes and when we went in one that had a walk out basement, the husband’s face just lit up for the first time.  I asked him what it was about this particular basement that struck his fancy and he said that he remembered going to visit a favorite uncle that had a walk out basement and that as kids they loved to go to his home because that was where the family congregated and often the uncle would go out in the back yard with them and play.

Another example is a middle aged couple that was looking for a “charming” home within close walking distance from where she worked.  The only thing I could come up with that would be “charming” was a renovated bungalow – and truly it was “love at first sight” for her.  When we talked about it later she recalled that the home was very much like the one her husband grew up in; complete with a front porch where family and friends would sit and relax and visit, rocking in the swing or in chairs.

What does love “got to do with it” for Sellers?  Honestly, have you ever seen an ugly baby – that is from the parent’s perspective?  Every parent believes that his/her child is the most beautiful.  This is the same emotion I hear from Sellers about their home.  Logic just seems to go out the window!  A professional Realtor® seeks first to understand what the Seller loves about their home, because if that emotion can be tapped into, then perhaps it can be uncovered and nurtured in a Purchaser that will feel the love as well.

Research supports that people buy on emotions, and that most of those feelings are hidden from us.  Harvard Business School Professor Gerald Zaltman states that 95% of our purchasing decisions happen in our subconscious.  It is a good Realtor® that can pick up on these emotions and assist buyers and sellers in understanding the logic that supports the purchase/sale.

Karen Briscoe and Lizzy Conroy are active and experienced Realtors® in the Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and Washington DC market place and would be delighted to assist whether for home buying or selling.  Please contact via the means most convenient for you:  www.HBCRealtyGroup.com, 703-734-0192, Homes@HBCRealtyGroup.com