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You Just Signed a 12-Month Lease? Good!

I’m not sure who invented the snooze button on an alarm clock, but I’m willing to bet that 99% of you have whispered a silent prayer of thanks once or twice for the genius of that woman or man.  The snooze button allows us to more gradually transition from a dream state to reality, if you will, and sort of prepares us to take on a new day.  (Wow, that sounded REALLY corny!)  I have a point, I promise.

Any realtor/lender worth her/his weight in goose down comforters is always on the lookout for potential clients whether it’s in line at The Home Depot buying PVC pipe, sitting at a local Starbucks sipping on an overpriced beverage, or attending a local church carnival where the most exciting “ride” is a tall sweaty guy who’s spinning kids around like a helicopter.  They’ll strike up a conversation and somehow find out that the person they just met lives in AN APARTMENT.  Bingo!  But then the new acquaintance utters THAT phrase: “Yeah, I just signed a 12-month lease.”  A good realtor/lender will smile, hand the person her/his card, and say, “Give me a call when you’re ready to move.”  But a great one will say, “Good!  You’re in the PERFECT position for buying a home.”  They are? 

When someone has just signed a 12-month lease, they’re warm and comfy under the covers, and they’re dreaming of living in a home one day – and at this point, it’s not a reality.  If they get too comfortable, though, they wake up halfway through month 11 to a notice from their landlord/apartment manager that it’s time to renew their lease – it’s a metaphorical alarm clock with no snooze button and no gentle transition. 

That first meeting between the great realtor/lender and the person who’s renting is like the alarm clock going off and being able to hit the snooze button.  Just before hitting snooze, the realtor/lender plants the seed in the renter’s mind that buying a home is THE next step – nothing more, and the renter returns to blissful slumber and dreaming of being a homeowner.  Three months later, the alarm goes off again in the form of the realtor/lender saying it’s time to look at the renter’s credit so there’s sufficient time to do any repair or scrubbing – and it’s time to hit the metaphorical snooze again.  At the six-month mark, the alarm goes off, and it’s time to start a casual internet search to determine what types of homes and areas the buyer likes and what it will take to qualify for them – hit the snooze bar again.  Nine months into the lease, the alarm sounds, and it’s time to start looking at homes because credit has been repaired and the buyer has a good idea of what she/he wants and knows what she/he is qualified to purchase.  When the 12-month lease is up, the buyer wakes up to the reality of being a homeowner.

So, if I start seeing an increase of photos on Pinterest of PVC pipes, Starbucks cups, and tall sweaty guys, I’ll know this little missive’s message hit home.  Meanwhile, I’m going to see a doctor to find out if there’s any way for me to be less corny.  Pray for me. 

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