Buyer:  I plan to buy a home next spring or summer, so I'll be back in touch in March to start looking at homes.

Me:  If you have the time and energy for it, we should start looking at homes now or soon.

A home buyer's default tendency is often to wait to start looking at homes until they are good and ready to buy.  But... there are some very good reasons why some home buyers start looking at homes before they are actually ready to buy.

1.  Looking at homes now will familiarize you with the market and will start to help you understand the relative value of any given house.

2.  Looking at homes now will help you clarify what you want or need in a next home - or will help you and your co-buyer talk those things through to reach a stronger consensus.

3.  Looking at homes now will allow us to start to talk through the nuances of the home buying process.

And then... when you are good and ready to actually buy... you'll already have some familiarity with market dynamics, you'll already have great clarity on your goals for your next home, and you'll already understand many aspects of the buying process.

So... if you are thinking you might buy a home in the spring... it's not a bad idea to start looking at houses now.