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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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