Tucson Real Estate – Focus on the Future

I’m not talking about the future of real estate in Tucson.  There is one, but I don’t have a crystal ball that will predict it.  My crystal ball is focused on other things at the moment.

Don’t loose sight of the goal

Try not to draw a line in the sand

What I am referring to is the often quoted sports saying of “Focus on the future” or “Keep your eye on the ball”.

I’ve seen transactions sunk over less than 1000 dollars.  Heck, I’ve seen them almost sunk over $500.

How can that happen? – A Line in the sand

It usually happens when the Goal is shoved to the background while a line in the sand suddenly gets the focus.

Huh?  still lost?  Okay so you have this hot tub you don’t use, you have never used and you don’t want to take it with you.  But the hot tub is important to the potential buyers.  It needs a new cover, the desert sun has scorched the heck out of the thing and it looks it.  You never used it and you don’t care.  You’ve even stipulated that the hot tub “Conveys as is”.

But the  buyer digs in and so does the seller.  (The cost of the new spa cover, $200)

You  can  buy new stuff

Once I spent a day taking around potential buyers to see homes in Saddlebrooke.  There were some homes both the husband and wife liked, one especially stood out, but it was marked off the list.  Why?  because their TV wouldn’t fit in the area in the living room wall where the seller’s TV was located.  House after house the husband would take out his tape measure and see if the TV would fit.

We were sitting in the drive way of the home they both loved and they were lamenting how this would have been the perfect home, If only . . .

I looked at both of them, shook my head and said, “Have you ever thought about buying a new TV?”

It was like I had hit them with a bolt of lightening.  Holy Kow, they realized they were eliminating a home with a pool, mountain views, on the golf course, exactly what they were looking for, except their TV wouldn’t fit in a hole in a wall.

It can happen to anyone.

How to keep your focus.

Here are a few ways you can be sure to keep your focus.

1. Write down your goal, keep it where you can read it everyday.
2. Ask yourself “How important is this?”  (to any potential roadblock)
3. Have someone totally objective you can talk to about potential issues.
4. Check to see if the obstacle is based on your goal, or a line in the sand.

Don’t loose sight of the big picture.  No one wants to look back and discover they lost a transaction (either a buyer or seller) over a line in the sand.