It has been a hard time for buyers in our market area for some years now. Prices are high; competition is fierce. Multiple offers and high overbids are frequent. Buying a pleasant house in a non-scary neighborhood for a reasonable price is nearly impossible. All of these things combine to make house hunting stressful for both the buyer and the agent.

It wasn't always like this, and it won't be like this forever (we hope). But, given the situation, and the many listings that have been coming to us, we don't take on buyers very often. When we do choose to find a property for a buyer, we do it with all our hearts. We think about that buyer night and day, what will work financially, what amount of space, what style will be embraced by him or her.

We look at the multiple listing, talk to other agents, and visit houses in hopes of locating the one that is right. And we expect that our buyer is as actively involved as we are because his help is needed.

Surprisingly often, human nature being what it is, people describe what they want to buy, then fall in love with something completely different. Our buyer needs to be out there looking at houses (often, on his own), giving us feedback on what could and won't work for him. We need to know what we are seeking and this is the only way to find out.

Along the way, we are big believers in educating our buyers. We teach him what is in the contract, what he will be signing when he buys. We tell him about disclosures, about termite reports, what they cover, why he might or might not want to have the work contained in them done. We discuss roofs and electrical panels and earthquake strengthening. In short, we try giving our buyers the ability to see and immediately identify that certain house he will want to live in, and to have broad perspective about why this one is the one.