Buyer Snapshot: The Miller Family

Full disclosure, this real life buyer is my husband.  All answers are his, with the occasional contribution from me.  I decided he would be the first person I could convince to do one of these posts!  

When did you first decide to buy a new home?  After the birth of our twins

What were your reasons? The condo was too small for our growing family.  We wanted a house with a yard and more space.

How did you start your search?  We looked online and started going to open houses 

When did you decide to contact a Realtor? When we decided to put our house on the market we contacted a Realtor

How many houses did you look at?  We probably looked at a couple hundred online, and probably went to visit between 40-50, either at open houses or with an agent.

How long did it take to find the right house? It took awhile for us to sell our condo.  We didn't want to look seriously until we knew we were close to selling.  Once we knew we had a serious buyer, we narrowed it down to the last few houses.  We put an offer in and started negotiations a few days after we had accepted an offer on our condo.

What were some of the things you were looking for in your new home? More room.  4 bedrooms, a yard, a nice neighborhood

Any interesting stories to tell about properties you saw?  We saw one that looked like it had an illegal addition - it was an addition that looked like it was built on top of the old deck and was sloping away from the house.

Any “ones that got away”?  Yes, but nothing we both agreed on.  The one sold before our condo did.

Tell me about the house you bought – favorite features?  Our house was built in 1977, so we have a lot of updating to do.  My favorite thing about it is the potential it has to become what we want it to.

Did everything go smoothly during your transaction?  Yes 

Any updates since you moved?  We are returning the fourth bedroom back from a closet into a bedroom, and have gutted the upstairs bathroom.  We also have been taking down a lot of wallpaper.

Any advice to future buyers, or tips on moving?  Try and leave yourself some time with the house before you have to be in it.  Make sure you are working with a Realtor as fabulous as my wife, Jennifer S. Miller. (This is really what he said!)

I hope you enjoyed my first Buyer Snapshot!

Jennifer