The excitement of becoming a home owner and the immense task of moving into your new home and settling in can sometimes overshadow home buyer’s remorse – which does happen and is not spoken about enough in real estate.
When the property market is moving fast, buyers rush to make decisions, and sometimes these rush decisions could lead to buyers, especially first-time buyers, feeling remorse over buying their new home – which can be avoided if you stick to three basic rules.
Here, we share our best tips to help you avoid buyer’s remorse on what is likely to be the biggest purchase of your life.
Budget and then go lower
Shopping too close to what you can afford might not leave enough room to actually live comfortably within your means. If you can afford to buy a home in the R1,5 million bracket consider shopping around in brackets a R100 000 less as well – you will have more money at the end of each month if you use the extra money to put into your deposit as it will result in a smaller bond repayment.
If you are not stressing about bond repayments, you will have more time to enjoy your new home.
Get everything inspected
It might seem like another expense on top of an already costly process, but getting your dream home inspected by a professional home inspector will ensure that you don’t buy something that is going to be a money-pit.
Having a licensed inspector investigate the property will uncover any problems with the foundation, pipes, electrical work, roof, or other high-priced items. If you opt out of an inspection, you run the risk of entering a home full of repairs — leading to a bout of buyer’s remorse.
Lists, lists, lists
While the old adage might be location, location, location, we believe in lists, lists, lists when it comes to avoiding buyer’s remorse. When you’re buying a home, make sure you’ve got a list of your “must-haves” and “would be nice to have” features.
For instance, if you work from home, space for a home office might fall into the must-have category. Having an open plan kitchen or a fireplace – those are more of the nice-to-have type of features. You also need to keep your lifestyle needs and personal goals in mind when choosing your home – the happier you are in the neighbourhood, the more time you will want to spend exploring it and spending time at your home.
We know that finally calling yourself a home owner is such an incredible feeling, but making decisions too quickly or based on other people’s opinions will only lead to hating the space you are in. And who wants that? So if you are feeling hesitant, hold off and make your decision with a clear mind.
Article Source: https://www.myproperty.co.za/news/market-and-opinion/3-steps-to-avoid-buyer-s-remorse-25-01-23
