Buying a home is one of the biggest and most exciting purchases a person makes in their lifetime. After all the time, money, and effort spent, the last thing you want to experience is the feeling of homebuyer’s remorse. To avoid this, first, talk to your Fazendin Realtor®, and consider the following tips.
Do Your Homework Upfront
It’s tempting to just start touring homes and scrolling through pictures on the internet right away, but buying a home requires some work upfront first. While it may seem daunting, taking the time to answer the following questions with your Realtor® will save you time in the long run:
- What does the home-buying process look like?
- What is my desired location? Consider school districts, proximity to areas of interest, and neighborhoods and communities.
- Am I looking for a single-family home, duplex, townhome, condo, etc.?
- How much work am I willing to do upon moving in?
- How much money am I willing to spend?
- Do I have a lender, and should I get pre-approved?
- If there are multiple buyers or parties involved, are we on the same page? Do we have the same plan and desires?
Clarify Needs vs. Wants
When beginning a home search, one of the first steps you take is to create a list of features and specifications you need in your home and a list of features and specifications you want in your home. These lists guide you through your search and help you make decisions. However, as you search, it can be easy to blur your list of needs versus wants. An extra bedroom to house infrequent guests can seem more necessary than it may actually be.
To avoid mixing these up, it is helpful to define why you need or want the items on your list. For example, why do you need that extra bedroom? If the reason is to have space for guests, maybe a sleeper sofa is a more economical option. Therefore, you don’t need an extra bedroom – you need space for a large couch.
Keeping a clear list of needs and wants can significantly reduce homebuyer’s remorse. If you focus more on what you need and satisfy some of the items on your wants list, you will be happier with your purchase.
Stay Within Your Means
Another early step in purchasing a home is setting your budget. Once this is established, stick to it as much as possible. When looking at homes, do your best to stay towards the middle and lower end of your price range. If you tour your over-budget dream home, it is difficult to go back to looking at homes you can afford.
Furthermore, in this market, homes are often selling for well over asking price. If you find a home you love at the top of your price range and make an offer, you will likely not be accepted unless you go outside of your budget. If you over-extend yourself financially, you will be constantly stressed and likely regret your home purchase. To avoid homebuyer’s remorse, stay on budget.
Have the Home Inspected
Once you find the home for which you’ve been searching, it is important to have the home inspected in some form. In today’s competitive market, many buyers are waiving inspections to make their offers more attractive to sellers. While this can help your offer, it can hurt your confidence in your purchase. If you close on a home that turns out to have significant issues, you may regret your purchase. For this reason, I recommend having a professional look at the home before closing. If you wish to waive a contingent inspection in your offer, there are ways to have the home inspected:
- Walk-and-talk inspection: Bring an inspector along on your initial tour of the home to take a look at the home and mention things they notice.
- Pass/fail inspection: This is an inspection in which the buyers have the home looked at by a professional but do not request that the sellers make fixes. The buyers can back out of a purchase if the home truly “fails” due to major safety concerns. Otherwise, the buyer will address issues found after closing.
- Non-contingent inspection: This is a typical inspection prior to closing but the sale of the home is not contingent on the results of the inspection.
Homebuyer’s remorse is very real but can be prevented. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you are considering buying a home. Inventory is low, but great homes continue to be listed and purchased every day. Your next ideal home is out there, and we can find it together.