You Can’t Truly Understand a Buyer Until You’ve Been One

by Chris Momongan

The Dream That Started It All

Buying your home is such a personal experience.
I remember the dreams and aspirations I had buying my first one mixed with so many unknowns. I’d scroll Zillow every night, imagining possibilities but not fully understanding the process. It felt like I was on a journey without a guide.

For me, the dream was simple: get out of my current living situation and finally feel settled.

I’d been hopping from lease to lease for years. Every renewal came with anxiety. Would rent go up again? Would we have to move? Could we ever find somewhere that felt like ours?

From Lease to Lease

I’ve lived in just about every corner of Atlanta over the past 20 years.
From GSU dorms, to apartments off North Druid Hills, to Sandy Springs for my first corporate job. Then a townhome with a roommate (which confirmed I’m not built for roommates), and eventually an apartment off Cheshire Bridge after I met my wife.

We moved to a duplex near the old Turner Field while I went back to school, then to East Atlanta Village, where my bike got stolen, rent went up, and one night we had to call the police after hearing a domestic dispute downstairs.

That’s when it hit me. We were done renting.

We craved stability. Personalization.
My wife has an incredible eye for design, something that would eventually shape her role as an Airbnb host and stylist and we wanted to create a space that reflected us.
Paint the walls. Garden. Hang custom shelves. Change light fixtures. Build something together instead of paying for someone else’s mortgage.

The Moment Everything Changed

When we finally bought our first home, we didn’t just buy a property we bought peace of mind.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was ours.

And through that experience, I learned something most agents never get to feel firsthand:
You can’t truly understand what it’s like to be a buyer if you’ve never been one yourself.

Working with an agent who’s never owned property is like asking a vegan chef to grill you a steak, or a swim instructor to teach from the pool deck without ever getting in the water.

They might know the technique, but they don’t know the feeling.

How That Experience Changed My Approach

That first home taught me empathy for every buyer I meet today.
Because when you’re buying, it’s not just numbers and contracts, it’s dreams, fears, and uncertainty all tangled together.

So I build my process differently.

Here’s how I guide buyers today:

Define your “why.” We clarify what homeownership really means to you. Freedom, stability, or investment.
Simplify the steps. I walk you through the process in plain language so you always know what’s next.
Move with confidence. We make every decision with clarity, not guesswork.

Why It Matters

Doing nothing keeps you in the same cycle. Lease after lease, rising rent after rising rent, building someone else’s equity instead of your own.

But taking that first step toward ownership changes everything.
You start seeing opportunity where others see obstacles.
You begin building a life with roots.

The Freedom of Ownership

Imagine walking through your front door not as a tenant, but as an owner.
The walls you can paint. The shelves you can build. The space that finally reflects you.

Buying real estate doesn’t just change where you live, it changes how you live.

And as someone who’s been on both sides of that journey, my job is simple:
to guide you through it with clarity, empathy, and confidence.

If you’re stuck in that renting cycle and ready to make your next move, let’s talk.
You can reach me at BuiltFromTheField.com or send me a message and we’ll build your next chapter together.