Has continued shopping ever cost you "the one you love"?

As consumers, we all shop.  It may be for groceries, clothes, tools, cars, and yes, even homes.  We're usually on the quest to find "just the right one" and that one is different for each of us.  We all search under different criteria and seek a unique set of characteristics in the item we are purchasing.

That being said, have you ever done this or watched a friend or family member do this?  Shopped for an item, found the one that was PERFECT... and didn't buy it.  Could have, but didn't.  Instead, the shopping continued.  Okay, let's stop there for a second.  Went shopping, found the perfect one, but kept shopping.   Hmmm...  Why would any of us keep shopping if we found the perfect one?

There are lots of theories on that, but I'll toss out a few for consideration:

  • We think our discovery is the "perfect one", but deep inside there's doubt
  • Even though we're sure it's the "perfect one", we think there's a better one out there.
  • We think there's a better deal somewhere else other than where we are and with the one we want.
  • If we find it too quickly, then it must not be "the one"
  • If it takes a while to find it, we might be "settling" from being tired of shopping

The list could go on, but most of them boil down to some sort of doubt that it's actually the "perfect one", so rather than commit, the shopper continues.  I've seen this in people shopping for a lot of different things.  Some big; some small, so it's not really as much about the price level of the item as it appears to be more about doubting the one in hand and the hope for one that has yet to be discovered.

Well, there's a saying that "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".  For those who have not heard it, it basically means that there is value to what's real and in front of you compared to something that is hypothetical and may never happen.

How does that relate to real estate?  Here's how.  A buyer and their Realtor do extensive research for homes that meet the buyer's criteria.  They view a nice collection of them.  One of them excites the buyer and the times the words "I love it" are used cannot even be counted.  The buyer loves the home!  Everything about the home matches the buyer's criteria (as closely as possible).  The agent then asks the buyer "So, do you want to make an offer on it?"  Response  "Well, I think we want to keep looking and see what else is out there". 

Let's review.  The buyer found a home that was perfect, but passed on it to see what else "could" be out there.  What may have been over-looked was that the market research already showed what else "is" out there.  What can possibly happen in this scenario is that the home the buyer loves may be gone when they want to return to make an offer on it.

There's an important differentiation to be made in the shopping examples.  When we go shopping for retail products, groceries, cars, tools, clothes, shoes, etc., if we decide to pass on a purchase to see what else is out there, we're pretty confident that should we later conclude that we were right... it was the perfect one, we can return to purchase the item. Why?  Because retail products are produced in mass.  Chances are high that 1 million of those shoes, boxes of cookies, power drills, jeans, or whatever were produced, so there are plenty for us to return to.  Guess how many of that home "you love" are available.  Yep... probably one.

When you find the one you love and it's nearly perfect, don't let it get away.