“If you wanna know if he loves you so...it’s in his kiss.”  Maybe this song has a little bit of insight as to how you know when you’ve found “the one” to marry, but in the home buying process, there is no definite way to know if a house is “the one,” (and it certainly doesn’t come through a kiss!).  There are, however, some telltale signs that you’ve found “the one”--even while sorting through cookie cutter neighborhoods with nearly identical houses or houses with less-than-ideal conditions.


1.   You feel possessive about it, instantly.  As soon as you enter some houses, you know immediately that you never want to step foot in it again.  In fact, we’ve shown some properties where the buyer walks in and immediately turns around and walks back out the door without ever seeing beyond the entryway.  

Quite the opposite can take place when you step into “the one.”  Sometimes, when you walk into a property, you instantly feel possessive about it.  You can hardly allow the ink to dry before submitting the offer, and you use all the super-sleuth skills that you possess in order to find out of your offer is  the only offer, if others are looking at the property, etc.  When you’ve reached this stage, the house has basically already become yours.  If you walk through the property wondering how quickly you can make an offer or wondering what a counteroffer would have to be in order to beat out another potential buyer, this might be “the one.”

2.       You start rationalizing its flaws away.  Electric lines running through the back yard? Next door neighbor that houses 2 but uses 5 parking spaces? Perhaps I am exaggerating (or not!), but if characteristics that you would normally deem as deal-killers begin to be rationalized away, you might have found “The One.”

At this point, I would like to offer one SMART tip to avoid rationalizing away some significant flaws--especially with some houses that are staged so well they belong in a “Pottery Barn” catalogue:  Do your homework before you step foot online or in any house.  Write down your absolute “must-haves” and “deal-breakers,” and revisit this list before your submit an offer and again before you remove your contingencies.

3.  The bathroom and kitchen don’t disgust you.  Other people’s kitchens and bathrooms can hold definite gross-out potential.  Those rooms hold the potential for both intimate and unsanitary conditions.  If you find yourself adoring the bathroom’s river rock shower floor (and disregarding the thoughts of what kind of mildew and/or bacteria may be dwelling there) or dreaming about the pot-filler over the stove (never mind how dirty the hands that touched that pot-filler!), this home might just be “the one.”

4.  You involuntarily envision your own family, furniture, decor, daily activities or remodeling choices in/to the home.  Staging is designed to help potential home buyers envision themselves taking ownership of your home.  If you find that in spite of staging (or lack of), you continue to see your couch and loveseat in the living room, your dining room set, your favorite photographs and art work on the walls, your child’s nursery, you cozying up with a good book in the sun-filled nook by the window, well, this may be “the one” for you.


5.  You lose interest in seeing other homes.  Sometimes, you may search for days, months or even years for the perfect house with no success, but as you continue your search, your mind constantly returns to that one property.  This may happen to the extent that you no longer desire to view other properties.  If your mind keeps wandering back to that “one,” and you begin to wrestle with the regret of “What if someone else buys it before me?”, you’ve probably found “the one.”  

Need more SMART tips on how to find “the one?”  Give us a call today.  We are committed to helping you Buy. Sell. Live. SMART!

Seth & Alyce


P.S.  We’d love to hear from you!  

Homeowners:  How did you know when you’d found “the one” for you and your family?

Agents:  What signs have you seen buyers exhibit when they’ve found “The One?”