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The Buyer Triangle

Writer's picture: Cam VandersluisCam Vandersluis


What is the best “would you rather” scenario that you have ever heard? This is a fun game that people might like to play on a long car ride, walking around their neighborhood, sitting with their spouse at dinner. Something pops into your mind and you say “would you rather….”

Would you rather be rich or famous?

Would you rather fight 1000 duck sized bears, or 1 bear sized duck?

Would you rather be half your height or double your weight? I just read this on a list of 200 “would you rather” questions and I had never heard it before. I honestly don’t know which way I would go. Feel free to chime in with your answer or any other good “would you rather” scenarios that you have heard in the past.

The theme here is: tough choices. We all make tough choices every day, some serious and some not as serious, per the aforementioned silly scenarios above.

I’m writing this as I watch the 2024 NFL draft, talk about tough choices. Pick the right guy, your team is Super Bowl bound and riding the wave of success for years to come. Pick the wrong guy, and you probably lose your job within a couple years. These are high stakes and I am sitting here thinking that I know more about being the GM of an NFL team than the high paid executives and coaches that are paid millions to do it for real. Whatever, I guess we will never know.

That is a highly unrelatable scenario to think about but it’s fun. Here’s a more relatable scenario that a lot of us have been through, one that involves making tough choices, weighing options, debating pros/cons, and peering into the proverbial “crystal ball”.

Buying a house.

Homebuyers make some very tough choices and the stakes are high! This is their home they are talking about, the place where they will make memories, raise a family (maybe), and experience life. It’s a big deal and I don’t think anyone in that scenario takes it lightly. I have clients that agonize over properties, spend a lot of their precious time thinking about homes that they will never see in person, let alone live in, but it’s an important part of the process.

There are lots of little details that we can go into here, but when it comes to making tough decisions, there are three that rise above the rest and they are all related. I give you, the Buyer Triangle.

Price

Location

House

Why is it a triangle? Because 99% of buyers get to pick two and the third is then decided. It’s similar to the “speed” triangle that everyone was introduced to in grade 9 science. Distance divided by time equals speed. If you know two pieces of the triangle, you can figure out the third.


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How does this play out in reality? Well, unfortunately for every person I have ever met in my life, price is usually the first given. One of the first questions an agent might have for a buyer client is “what is your budget” or “how much are you looking to spend”. This is usually determined through a pre approval at your bank or with a mortgage broker. Once you know the price you are working with, you can move on to the next piece of the puzzle.

For some buyers though, price is a bit flexible, and it usually depends on the next two items.

Location, location, location. The real estate mantra of many market participants and pundits. Location is the most important thing! Can’t move your house, better buy in a good area. And that mentality is certainly the beginning and end of the discussion for a lot of homebuyers.

A city, a neighborhood, a school district, a condo building, a street! That’s how specific some people are about where their next house might be located. Why is location so important? There are just so many things that go into the question of “where?” Proximity to amenities, familiarity, transportation, safety, workplaces, family and friends, the list goes on and on. Everyone has in mind the perfect place for them, and if it weren’t for part 1 of the Buyer Triangle, they could afford to live there.

The last corner of the triangle: the house. What type of property are you looking for? A single detached home? A townhouse? An apartment? Again, this is usually dependent on your budget, or how much you want to spend, but there are other factors too. Is this your first home purchase? Do you have a family? How important is a yard to you?

Similarly to type of property, what about the finish of the property? Are you looking for something turnkey, or do you want to put some money and effort into a property? While finishes and updates are also impacted by budget, your preference for some of these things might be more important than the location.

It’s interesting to me how these things usually fit together for different types of buyers. Some buyers are willing to be flexible with the finish or size of the home if it means they can buy where they want to. Some buyers have very specific needs of their home and location is not nearly as important to them.

You can see how the difficult choices start to add up, multiply and impact other decisions. I also find that these priorities and preferences change and evolve during the buying process after viewing homes that offer and lack the qualities that a buyer specifies. Needs and wants are not written in stone and buyers are certainly within their rights to change their minds and opinions throughout the search. I welcome it. I think we arrive there together in most cases because that is the job of a realtor. To help their client make the best decision they can and that just doesn’t happen by being a silent door opener.

Thanks for making it this far, I look forward to reading those “would you rather” scenarios, feel free to email them to me anytime. And if you thought this was some riff on the Bermuda Triangle for confused homebuyers, I’m sorry. Happy Friday!

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