What home buyers can learn from online dating this Valentine’s Day

What home buyers can learn from online dating this Valentine’s Day

All those who have ventured into the world of online dating will know what an emotional roller coaster it can be. From an online profile, you make decisions on what you see, and as a result you choose to slide right or left. Making such judgements based on a what is portrayed is what you do when you’re looking for a home. As online dating is more the norm these days, you have, no doubt, picked up some knowledge to help ensure the date you pick has a higher chance of being successful.  These tools can also be used when looking for a property, which is why we believe home buyers can learn a lot from online dating this Valentine’s Day.

You can only tell so much from a photo

Whether it is online dating or social media, we are all guilty of posting photographs that depict our happy times, but rarely do we share our whole life.  The photos that you choose for your online profile may have even had a filter added to enhance your appearance in some way. Have you ever turned up on a date and realised the person in front of you hardly resembles the person you had expected to meet?

Photographs do tell the story about a home, but they do not give you the full picture. The angle used can make a room look bigger or smaller, and as much as they are a marketing tool to grab your attention (just like a dating profile), the only way to truly know if you are the perfect match is to meet in person.  Only when you are in a room can you know if you get the feeling that you could fall in love with the home you are standing in.

Do your research

In this day and age, it is essential to do your due diligence before you meet someone on a date: you want to make sure they are a real person, they are who they say they are, and Google becomes a necessary tool. The same can be said if you are looking for a new home. If you do not know the area the property is located in, personally and thoroughly, then do your research.

Start by looking at Street View so you can see what is in close proximity and also the condition of the neighbouring homes. You can then look at what other amenities are close by, such as coffee shops, stores, parks, places to walk your dog and everything else you enjoy doing. Remember, it isn’t just the property that needs to meet your requirements, ideally, you should also fall in love with where you live, too.

Get the facts as well as the images

You wouldn’t choose to go on a date with someone based on their photos alone, would you? It isn’t just how someone looks that will grab your attention, it is the details that are expressed in their written profile. Property descriptions, creatively written or lacking in content, can often give away details that images do not provide. They can inform you about rooms that are not photographed, and, frustratingly, as not all estate agents provide a floor plan with their listings, this is essential information.  They can give clues to the area, a covenant that the building is subject to, if there is a right of way, and many other factual details that could sway your decision on whether to view a particular home or not.

Stop over thinking

Dating rules, does anyone actually understand when you should text, etc? Often, we can over analyse and question everything when it comes to internet dating to the point that we can take the enjoyment out of the process.  Buying a property is a huge investment; you will have worked hard to raise the deposit and no doubt have been dreaming of what this home will look like. You will probably have to make a compromise or two along the way. It is great to ask us, as your estate agent, as many questions as you need to help you make a decision, but if you start to overanalyse you may find that you talk yourself out of that perfect home. Delaying putting in a offer could also see you lose out, especially in this current market where buyers are aplenty and the number of properties for sale remains low.

Trust your gut!

You know very quickly if you and your date click or not, and research across the world has shown that it takes around 8 seconds to know if a home has stolen your heart or not. Remember not to just go solely on looks, it has to work for you in practical ways too. If you’re looking for a home to love this Valentine’s Day, at McHugo Homes we could pull at the heart strings for that dream home.

To begin your home search today, call Andy on 0121 5170251.