Where is Your Heart? © 2012 by Wayne D. Lewis, Sr.

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For the first-time home buyer, the opportunity to buy their first home is truly overwhelming.  Even with someone holding their hand, or with a road map clutched in their little hands, buying that first home remains a challenge unlike any other.  Of the many questions that first-time home buyers are asked by their Realtor, one is: Where do you want to live?” 

The answers can range from near their parents, close to their jobs, in the suburbs, close to school, or, get this one: “Anywhere, I’m not particular.”  Sometimes first-time homebuyers will give their agents 4 or 5 different locations to select from.  While that is not a bad thing, the real question is, where, more than anywhere, would a first-time homebuyer like to live?   

Getting first-time homebuyers to narrow down where they want to plunk down for a few years is a challenge, and for me, I thought if I could put it in terms of where they grew up, or why they are deciding to buy a home at all, it would be helpful to me to help them find their dream home.  So, I often ask many first-time homebuyers when they don’t seem to have it narrowed down:  “Where is your heart?”  After they get over the idea of the question, I follow with what moves them to move?  I follow up with a question of what would make their move a perfect move, to the perfect house.

While these questions don’t necessarily result in an epiphany where the first-time homebuyer just comes up with the ideal location, I do share with them that the areas that they have presented to me for consideration aren’t necessarily consistent, or that they are very broad.  I point out to them that my job to help them would best be accomplished if they could say exactly where they would like to start looking for a home.

I understand the challenges for first-time homebuyers in trying to make this important decision of where to live.  When my wife and I began looking for a home, we had no idea of where to look, so we just followed “For Sale” signs.  The disappointments were in the affordability of the homes, the lack of understanding of what was needed to buy a home, besides money, and knowing that we were going to find a great neighborhood to raise our family. 

As I think back, I remember Jane Lampkin, who was our agent.  She was wonderful.  She showed a number of houses, helped us to get financing, and explained a lot of things to us to get through the process.  At a point where we were disappointed in the selections, one day Jane called us and asked us how would we like to own a brand new house?  We were excited, and of course said “Yes!”  The property was located in New Orleans East, along the outskirts of New Orleans called Littlewoods.  Although I had gone out in the area to visit friends, the area never captured my interest, until my wife and I were looking at blueprints, and plat maps of where the house was going to be built, in a new subdivision between Morrison Road and Curran Blvd near Paris Road.  We fell in love with the idea of a brand new home with appliances, vaulted ceilings, stone fireplace, a porch, indoor laundry and so many other great things about not only buying a home, but owning our very first home.

When I ask my clients today, “Where is your heart?”, it is at that point that I am trying to detect a glimmer of anticipation, or excitement over and above that which they maybe going through already.  I am looking for, in their eyes, something that gives me a clue as to what would make their home buying opportunity as positive as possible.  If I am lucky, they will say something, or do something that will give me a clue as to what direction to move in while helping them successfully go through the home buying process.

If I don’t see, or sense anything right off, then, I have to be like Jane Lampkin was to us.  I have to seize the moment, guide them by their inexperienced hands, and show them the best of what is available in their price range.  It becomes a hit and miss at first, but I am always checking with my clients to see if I am warm or if I am cold regarding their likes or dislikes.  But eventually, it clicks.  They confirm by their choice and selection of a home, by their willingness to follow my guidelines within the process, and eventually by the referrals that I get from them for a job well done.

Maybe it is not a question that can easily be answered by a first-time home buyer to a stranger, a real estate agent, whom you don’t know.  Maybe it isn’t the kind of question an agent should be asking a buyer.  But if we are going to be spending at least 30 to 60 days together to help you achieve a life-long dream, shouldn’t I at least know where your heart is pulling you to live?  By the way: “Where is your heart?”

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