One of the more popular shows on HGTV is House Hunters, where the host, Suzanne Whang describes the process of a buyer or a family buying a home who are guided around to 3 homes by a agent. After seeing the 3 homes and a strategically placed commercial break the buyer comes to the agent office to fill out a one page contract form. After another strategically placed break, viola, the buyer has the home and we get the opportuinty to drop in on them 1-2 months after they have moved into the property they selected. (Somehow, they always get the one that they selected, but I am getting ahead ov myself.) All of this half hour, made for TV house hunting got me to thinking, How does House Hunters compare to the real home search and buying process?

Don't get me wrong, if House Hunter called today to ask me to be an agent on the show I would jump at the opportunity. I am just pointing out some of the differences between the show version and the real version of buying a home. Over the course of the next few postings I will be comparing the House Hunter process with the Actual home buying process while showing some of the glaring and subtle differences along with providing some food for thought for potential home buyers.

Part One of a Nine Part Series

House Hunters Question #1, House Hunters shows the home buyers working with an agent, how do home buyers select a real estate agent?

When we are presented the home buyer in the show, they are usually describing how there current situation and living conditions are not working out and what they dislike about their current property. The ideal, overused "plot" is the husband or wife that has a hobby or painting or writing or music and how they are currently forced to use part of the living room as there studio.

Next scene shows the couple with the newspaper spread out in front of them or they are sitting in front of a computer screen randomly selecting properties. While both of these activities do occur, the show eliminates some of the steps that will ultimately end up saving the home buyer lots of time and stress.

In todays internet age, it have been reported in multiple surveys that anywhere from 70-80% of potential buyers begin their home search online. The next step that they take is contacting an agent to actually show them homes. This brings up two very important factors that buyers need to consider. 1.) Is the agent that they are contacting for a particular proprty already under contract to represent the best interest of the Seller of the home? 2.) Is the agent that they are contacting familiar with the home or area that they are interested in and are they an active agent or are they not very busy and therefore they are just sitting around waiting and hoping that a buyer will call in on an office listing. You see, the average agent in the US sells 2-3 homes per year. That's right, 2-3. If you take the total number of homes sold divided by the total number of licensed agents, you get a number between 2 and 3. This means that alot of agent are not selling any homes. What does that mean to you? You might end up getting stuck with an agent that will be doing on the job training at your time and expense, vs working with a top producing real estate team.

Next, in HGTV House Hunters, we never see the agent that has been selected taking the time to meet with the home buyers in the the agents office to find out exactly what the prospective buyers are looking for and taking the time to explain the entire home buying process. It is assumed that the agent knows what the buyers are looking for, but my experience has shown that the buyers translate this into a myth that every agent will just run out to the property and show them the property without taking the time to explain the entire process and finding out exactly what they are looking for.

How it really works: Most prospective home buyers take the time to interview an agent or agents. The agent will take the time to question the home buyers to find out exactly what they are looking for, explain to them the entire home buying process and provide for the home buyers the required local, state, and federal disclosures, especially in the area of Megan's Law and the like. While glossed over in the show, these steps are vital to setting up a good foundation for the rest of the Northern Virginia home buying process.