Head or heart?

August 23, 2015 by Rob Kahl

Head or heart?

When people are trying to buy properties it is difficult to categorise them into whether they are people that buy with their heads or their hearts.

So many other factors come into the equation that usually people tend to fall somewhere in the middle. There has to be boring factors taken into consideration like price, school catchment areas, a basic number of bedrooms and/or condition, but a house surely has to appeal to the heart as well, it has to be pretty at least?

I sold a house this week and as we stood outside looking back at the property with the purchasers we all commented on what a handsome house it was. There is something to be said about feeling a certain amount of pride when you pull on to your drive and look at your house. You may have a had a dreadful day at work and have been run ragged, but when you get home you realise what all that hard work was for, for you and your family.

In Leigh on Sea we are very fortunate that our housing stock is extremely varied and in my opinion our Edwardian or Victorian properties which are the majority of the houses we have in our area are extremely attractive and definitely appeal to the hearts of the majority of buyers.

I think thankfully we haven’t got large estates of terraced houses or sprawling modern estates of the same homes that are all exactly the same. Surely then, when people are making decisions on which one to buy of that kind, it must be whichever one is the cheapest or has got the best wallpaper.........nothing else really comes in to it as they are all identical!

In an area like ours, there are properties that are so impractical that you think in any other area they wouldn’t stand a chance of selling but in Leigh on Sea, they are described as quirky, quaint or characterful and they get snapped up every time.

The cottages off of Church Hill or The Gardens spring to mind. Tiny 2 bedroom terraced properties with no parking, not even anywhere near to think about parking your car. The head says that you would be mad to even consider them, imagine on a cold, wet January day with a car full of shopping and a screaming child, but the heart says why not? Glorious views over the estuary, fabulous original features, right in the heart of The Broadway and a proper community feel with the other residents.

I personally love all of the types of houses we have in Leigh and it makes my job all the more interesting and varied (if not much harder trying to value them all). It means that if someone is being ruled by their head nothing I am going to say or do is going to tempt them in to buying a small cottage, none of my usual sales patter is going to work, but, if someone is buying with their heart, they are excited and enthusiastic about the prospect of moving in to a property a very long way from the run of the mill.