Shopping for a new home can be a fun and exciting adventure, the prelude to beginning a new chapter in your life in a new home. But that excitement often dies, and the search becomes a long, drawn-out, onerous chore, especially in today’s market with low inventory, bidding wars, and rising home prices. The result is buyer burnout. But with the right approach, you can avoid such burnout. So here’s how to avoid burnout when buying a house.
Have a Plan
The first step you should take to avoid burnout when buying a house involves formulating a plan and then sticking to it. As with anything else, buying a house becomes less of a chore when you take an orderly, thought-out, methodical approach.
“Having a home-buying plan in place can help mitigate your feelings of anxiety and uncertainty”, especially regarding price. “Set a budget,” experts advise, “and be realistic about it. Know what you can and can’t spend and stick to it. Never let anyone convince you your limit is unreasonable. If it’s your limit, it’s just that – a limit.” You never want to be house poor. The house will become a burden if you feel you cannot purchase or do the things you want to do. Sometimes the area you prefer to live in is an area that is out of your budget.
Get Pre-Approved Before Searching
If there’s one thing industry pros agree on about buying a house, it’s that buyers should get pre-approved for a mortgage before they begin their home search. There are two reasons why early pre-approval is so important . . . .
First, pre-approval will allow you to know exactly how much you can borrow. And knowing this, you will be able to shop for homes within your price range, thus saving time and effort you might have otherwise wasted looking at homes you couldn’t actually afford. It can be a very big disappointment to look at homes you cannot qualify for. Sometimes our desires are larger than our pocketbook. So being equipped with a pre approval allows one to shop in the right price range.
“Second, having a pre-approval letter ready when you find a home you want will help you move fast on an offer and reduce your chances of losing the home to someone else. Sellers won’t even consider an offer from a buyer who isn’t pre-approved.” Having a pre-approval means you are serious and are shopping in the right price range. Can you imagine a seller finding out the one who they chose to buy their house can’t afford to buy it? It does not help your agent’s credibility with other agents when you cannot produce a pre-approval letter for an offer. And if you do find another home and perchance it is listed by the same agent that agent might not want to have their sellers accept your offer. But buyers with a pre approval letter are ready to make an offer. They don’t have to wait to talk to a lender to have one sent with their offer.
Broaden Your Search Parameters
Nothing can be more frustrating when you’re buying a house (or, rather, trying to buy a house) than searching and searching for months on end and never finding what you’re looking for. To avoid that kind of frustration burnout, you can broaden your search, both in terms of area/location and type of home. Not every house on the market will be a fit for you as a buyer. And sometimes that perfect home can be outside the area you were looking.
“Look outside of areas and property types within your comfort zone, such [different neighborhood and] and a multi-family home or fixer-upper.” But they also warn against going too far outside your comfort zone. Otherwise, you could wind up with a case of buyer’s remorse.” While being a bit outside of your desired area is ok, if you go too far off the path you have decided upon it can mean that in the long run the house is not a perfect fit.
If you want to use this strategy, make sure to work closely with a Floresville agent who can provide the guidance you’ll need. To discover more, just call (210) 216-7722.
Don’t Get Advice From Too Many People
And don’t get advice from too many people about searching for and buying a house. All those family members, friends, and co-workers who want to give you advice usually mean well, but information and opinion overload can lead to analysis paralysis and then burnout. They will not be the one living in the house and their taste is not your taste. Also, they may be misinformed and give you bad advice. It is so sad to see people give their advice when they are not experts or haven’t even seen the houses or area. Especially since the real estate market is very local, taking advice from people who are not familiar with an area isn’t always the best idea. The only items that can be helpful advice is the stories they can tell you about their mistakes. Most people learn some of their best lessons from mistakes. Especially when the market is going through ups and downs. When people look at most real estate articles those are articles based upon data nationally. The national market is not this market. While some areas are struggling, our area has been in a boom since 2012. And while it has slowed some, it has not swung to a buyers market yet in the early part of 2023. And if the home is a good buy, in good condition, in a desirable area with a good price it will not be on the market long. So delaying may not be the best idea.
The best course is to turn to your agent for advice. “It’s best,” experts say, “to confide in and trust your chosen agent,” not the non-real estate professionals who are eager to give you advice.
Be Quick, Aggressive, and Creative
If you want to avoid burnout in today’s market conditions, you will probably have to be quick, aggressive, and possibly creative when making an offer and buying a house. Here’s why . . .
“A worthy property may hit the market suddenly and get claimed within a day or two. That means you need to be in sync with your agent and ready to make an offer very quickly if necessary. In this market, it’s imperative to be as aggressive as possible when you think you found your ideal home. . . . Try to be creative, too, in sweetening your offer by catering to the seller.” Your agent should work with the sellers agent to determine what is the motivation of the seller so your offer can help achieve that be it a fast sale or maybe a longer closing date or taking an item with them that would normally stay. But also always be conscious about not overspending. That would be a big regret.
Work Closely With an Experienced Floresville Agent
Today, most buyers should work with an experienced local agent who understands the loans and the different aspects of each so can go to bat for them so that they don’t get overwhelmed and experience burnout. A good agent can guide you through the whole home-buying process and can make your offer as strong as possible. Your agent can also work with your specific financing plans. If, for example, you are using, say, a VA or FHA loan instead of a conventional loan, an experienced agent will be well-versed in working with those kinds of mortgages and can allay any fears one may have.
We have the experienced agents you need. So when buying a house in Floresville is in your plans, I would love to help.
Country Living with City Convenience
Serving all of Wilson County and the South Texas Area
Floresville Real Estate Agent – Faye Y Taylor is a Floresville Realtor® and is here to help and answer any questions you might have. Call or text (210) 216-7722