Commentary: If you love it, buy it

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Good morning. We like to mix it up here, and our mix lately has been lacking in some ways. So today we post another contrary view, this time from Silver Lake real estate agent Brock Harris. You may not agree with him, but hear him out:

Buyers are nuts about price. I think it’s a stupid way to choose a house. Why?

All day long I ask potential buyers “How soon do you need to buy?” and “What areas are you looking in?” and all I hear is: “I am flexible, I just want a good deal.”

It’s crazy – most buyers will wait YEARS and live in houses they don’t even LIKE to get that “good deal.”

I say bollocks.

Ever talked to someone who bought well and bought early? What they paid is IRRELEVANT. The homeowners in Burbank who paid $240K instead of $220K (they decided they couldn’t wait for the “good deal” anymore), and it’s now worth a cool million?

The guy who bought the commercial property on Hollywood Blvd in the mid-90s for $350K (NOT a good deal, in fact he overpaid 10%), and it’s now worth $4mil?

Heck, my uncle and aunt in Vancouver “overpaid” for their house back in the day. Yep, they spent $35K on a house they could have gotten for $33,500. Boo-hoo, the place is now worth $500K. They bought it because they LOVED it.

I will take a well-located, prize home I love at MARKET price all day long over a not-so-nice place at 30% below market. Because in ten years it’s not going to make a bit of difference to me, and the nicer place will be worth more anyway.

I am calling through my entire database and I am not kidding you, there are people who have been waiting since 2001. “I’m not in the market,” they say, “but if a really good deal comes along, give me a call.” Yeah, right.

Thanks, Brock. You’re a brave guy to wade in here with those words.
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