ever-works/orgs/buyer-needs-brief

Buyer Needs Brief

A tour without a brief is a tour that wanders — and a buyer who feels unheard shops for a year. This playbook front-loads the conversation so every property you show earns its place on the list.

Capture the must-haves and deal-breakers

Separate the two explicitly:

• Must-haves — the non-negotiables: location bounds, minimum bedrooms and baths, essential features. Keep this list short and honest; a buyer with twenty must-haves has none.
• Deal-breakers — what disqualifies a property instantly: a busy road, a long commute, deferred maintenance beyond appetite.
• Nice-to-haves — ranked, so trade-offs are already decided before a real property forces them.

Establish the budget honestly

• Target price range and the comfortable monthly payment, which are not always the same number.
• The gap, if any, between what they want and what the range buys — name it now, not at the third disappointing showing.

Verify financing before touring dreams

• Pre-approval status and the price band a lender will actually support.
• Funds available for down payment and closing costs.
• Any condition — a home to sell, a gift, a timeline — that shapes what and when they can close.

A buyer touring above what they can finance is a buyer being set up to lose the home they fall in love with.

Understand the timeline and motivation

• When they need to be moved, and what is driving it.
• How decisive they are, and who else is part of the decision.
• Their communication style and preferred cadence, so the concierge can keep them warm the right way.

Turn the brief into a search

Translate the brief into concrete search criteria and a scoring rubric. Every candidate is measured against the stated need, not against your taste or the newest listing.

Keep it current

Priorities shift as buyers see reality. Update the brief after each round of showings — what moved up, what fell away — so the search sharpens instead of drifting.

Output

A one-page brief: must-haves, deal-breakers, ranked nice-to-haves, verified budget and financing, timeline and motivation, and communication preferences — ready to drive the search and to hand to the concierge.