There may be nothing worse than having buyers remorse after spending several hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house, lot or condominium. That’s a huge chunk of change to be regretful over.
And there are a lot of reasons that people might have buyers wars after finalizing the purchase of the property. Perhaps small repairs now seem overwhelming or maybe the commute is longer than expected. If this is the first house you’ve ever purchased it can be an adjustment for many people.
You may have spent weeks or even months looking for the right house and finalizing all the financial details only to regret your purchase once you close. We’ve helped several homebuyers in different markets and sometimes, the pressure of just getting the house overwrites the realization that you may not get the right house. I’ve had buyers that want to keep going on a bidding war even though they may not really love the home. It’s the thrill of the chase and the competition that they like more than the actual house, which is a huge danger for the rest of the people that need to live in the house.
We really try to emphasize finding the right house, not just winning the deal. Once you get in that house and the marriage really starts, you will start to notice things that you didn’t even think about before. But what happens if you really have buyers remorse?
First of all, give it six months. You may find other things that will be more beneficial than the things that are really bothering you. Perhaps it’s a great community or good school district; maybe you love your neighbors and find new features about the house that make you fall in love with it even more. If the end of six months you still don’t love it, talk to your real estate agent about the options. It will depend on how much money you put down on the home versus the market, versus what is available out there and what it would take to sell and purchase a new home simultaneously.
Now, in order to avoid buyers remorse, there are several things you can do ahead of time before that final closing.
- Consider a cancellation clause. In a hot seller’s market homeowners may not accept an offer that includes this but for most buyers markets, this is acceptable. It might not be commonly used but you can talk to your agent about this cancellation clause before signing an offer on a house.
- Know what you really want and stick to it. Don’t get caught up in a bidding war. If the home is really what you want and has every feature you are looking for, go ahead and fight for it. If you’re only fighting for the sake of winning, there’s usually a better house out there.
- Get on the same page with everybody that’s going to be living in the house. Does everybody love the house? Are there features that will appeal to everyone in the home? Do you understand the reality of things you might have to fix after you move in? I can’t tell you how many buyers think that they can do everything with the house once a move-in and chances are only about 10% of those things actually get done.
- Stop Looking at homes even though you have found one you really like. We are interesting creatures; given hundreds of choices we can’t seem to make a decision, but given just three or four, we fill a better sense of satisfaction on making the decision. Stop giving yourself so many choices and second-guessing your first decision. Often times one of the first couple of houses people look at are the ones that they go with, but they keep looking just to see if there’s anything better out there. Don’t get caught up in that cycle.
- Use a real estate agent that understands buyers remorse and any other issues that come up. The only way to do this is by using an experienced and seasoned real estate agent. Brand-new real estate agents have no idea all the nuances that come both before and after buying a home. Only a real estate agent that has been in the game for years can help you make a wise decision and help you make better-informed decisions throughout the process.
Give us a call if you have buyers remorse on a home you’ve already purchased or if you’d really like a skilled agent to guide you through the home buying process. We work solely within the Brunswick County area including Sunset Beach and surrounding coastal towns.