HometownGeorgetown.com

When I first moved to the Hill Country from Dallas just over ten years ago, I rented a room from my then-boyfriend’s brother. (My boyfriend became my husband, and I moved with him to Saudi Arabia.) Anyway, while I was renting a room in north Austin, I went for a walk one day through the neighborhood and happened upon a home for sale by owner. I pulled a brochure from the brochure box, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. This decent house in a good neighborhood was being offered for sale for $17,000. Seventeen thousand dollars! Could it be true?

I rushed home and immediately called the owner. “Is this flyer right?” I asked. “Are you really asking $17,000 for your house?” The woman said yes!

Excited beyond belief, I made an appointment to view the house, and I told my brother-in-law and his girlfriend the fantastic news. They were skeptical, but I insisted that the seller had confirmed the price. I built a whole story in my head about how this nice couple was looking for a deserving young person to buy their home, and when they found the right person, they were going to practically give it away. (I’m an optimist by nature.)

At the time of my appointment, I gathered together my brother-in-law, his girlfriend, her two teenage daughters, and the dog, and we all trooped over to this delightful little house. (I’m not exaggerating. We really did bring the dog. A very large dog.)

The house was wonderful! As we walked through, I daydreamed about sewing my own curtains and decorating with garage sale finds. The house had a huge sunporch on the back, overlooking a small but well-landscaped backyard. I loved everything about it. With a big smile, I turned to the homeowner and said, “This is really $17,000?”

“Yes,” she said calmly. “One hundred and seventeen thousand dollars.”

D’oh.

Somehow, on the flyer and in our earlier conversation, I missed that “hundred” bit. The house was somewhat beyond the reach of a temporary secretary with very little savings. I was too embarrassed to admit my mistake, so I kept smiling as though I could afford the house, and wasted another ten minutes of this poor lady’s time. She called me the next week, and I’m sure she wondered why I had suddenly lost interest.

So why am I telling you this story? Well, first of all, I wanted you to know that I’m a real person. I can and often do laugh at myself. Sometimes I kind of wish that I wouldn’t give myself quite so many opportunities to laugh at myself, but what can you do? I also use this story to illustrate why I believe it’s important to hire a REALTOR like me. If you’re at the stage now where you are first beginning to think about buying a home, you can avoid the embarrassment of going to a home that you can’t possibly afford by finding out ahead of time how much of a home you can handle. I have contacts with local lenders who can tell you everything you need to know. Once we know how much you can afford to spend, then we can start searching for homes in that price range. (Doesn’t that sound like fun?!)

And as a REALTOR, I would discourage you from bringing the dog.

If you’re ready to buy a home, give me a call at 512-876-6544 and we can chat. Or call me if you’re planning to sell your house, and you want to prevent insanely optimistic, unqualified buyers from wasting your time.