CLEVELAND — Buying a home can feel like a death-defying act for many first timers.
“It was definitely stressful,” says Ashton Atkins. “Something we didn't really consider that we'd have to fight other people over the home."
Atkins and Christoper Petek looked at twenty homes in twelve hours. That's how hot the market in Northeast Ohio is right now.
The typical U.S. buyer looks at only ten homes over a period of ten weeks.
So, for first time home buyers, one of the most important steps in finding your home sweet home is hiring a realtor you connect with, as well as one who performs.
Which is what Atkins and Petek did.
"Our realtor is very big on social media,” says Petek. “That's what speaks to our generation. So we’re thinking ‘Hey, this kid is younger. He knows what he's doing. We're always seeing homes are closing with him.’ We just knew as soon as we called him."
Once you hire a realtor your next step in finding home sweet home is getting pre-approved for a loan. That realtor can help you find the right lender.
"It's really important to be ready to rock and make an offer when you find the perfect home,” says Anna Lee Rindskopf. “Because you really can't delay these days, or it might get bought by someone else.”
Real estate is a family affair for Anna Lee Rindskopf, whose mom is the number one RE/MAX agent in Northern Ohio. She says to help find your home sweet home, you want a realtor who wants to do more than just sell you a house.
"Sometimes buyers hearts can be pitter-pattering about a house,” she says. “But is it a good, smart, equitable decision? So I try to be their watchdog and their momma bear. And if I see something... That doesn't look quite right I play devil's advocate.”
Rindskopf says the clients who are successful in find a home come armed with information.
“Sometimes I'll meet with buyers and they tell me in the beginning they don't want certain things,” she says. “They don’t want that, but they do want this. And then sometimes, in the end, they end up in a house that they love that wasn't exactly what they were thinking from the beginning!”
The bottom line is, as realtors and buyers will tell you: Wait until you find "The One”.
"You'll walk into the house and you'll feel the ZING,” says Rindskopf. “And you'll say ‘This is it! This is my house.”
"This house was one of the last ones we saw,” says Petek. “And then we - I mean, as soon as we walked in - we fell in love with it."
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