Deciding to purchase your first home is a huge step, as it’s often a long term financial commitment. Studies have found, as much as 70 percent of homeowners have at least 1 regret regarding their property.
Understanding common homebuyer regrets can help guide you during the homebuying process towards a home you can be truly happy with for years to come.
Forgetting to research the neighborhood
It’s easy to become so focused on a home itself that you neglect to account for its surroundings. The neighborhood your home is located in can have a large effect on your daily life, so consider accounting for aspects of the neighborhood you and your household can enjoy.
If you have young kids, you may want to be located near parks and good school districts. Is the location of the home near grocery stores, your job, medical facilities? Acknowledging your lifestyle can help you pick a home in a neighborhood you’ll love.
Getting pressured into making a decision
Sometimes, a seller may portray their home as being highly sought after to encourage higher and more frequent offers. Similarly, you may find your household has time constraints and want to make a quick home purchase.
With all the pressure, it may be easy to settle for a home to meet a deadline or feeling like a property of interest will be unreachable if you don’t act fast. However, taking your time can help you and your real estate agent examine all details to figure out if this is a good long-term investment.
Forgetting you might someday have to sell the home
Sometimes, properties can be difficult to sell due to factors such as their location and surroundings. For instance, a remote home or one that is located too close to loud areas may not matter to you, but they may deter potential homebuyers.
This lesson also holds true for what you do with your home once it’s purchased. Making flashy renovations or design choices may not appeal to the average homebuyer and can make your home more difficult to sell.
Using the aforementioned tips, you and your real estate agent can do the research and take the time to figure out if the home you’re interested in is the most fitting choice.
About the Author
Judy Szablak
With over 30 years in the industry, Realtor Judy Szablak has been on national television for her real estate expertise on the HGTV Network, featured on Martha Stewart Living Radio "Morning Living” , NPR radio as an expert real estate panelist, It’s Relevant News channel, and quoted in the Wall Street Journal for her in depth knowledge of Fairfield County Connecticut real estate.
She was also on the local NPR radio station (WSHU) as a Fairfield County CT real estate expert. Judy has provided multiple online respected news sources with her real estate expertise including The Daily Easton, The Daily Weston, The Daily Fairfield, The Daily Stamford and The Daily Greenwich, as well as in print in the New York Post. She is a weekly Real Estate Columnist for WestportNow.com, another real estate column "Real Estate With Judy” is syndicated through Hearst CT Media Online and seen in The Connecticut Post, The Danbury News-Times, The Stamford Advocate, The Greenwich Time, The Hour, Fairfield Citizen, Westport News, Darien News, New Canaan News and the Wilton Villager.
Judy is also the author of the book, The Art of Buying or Selling a Home, available at all major book retailers. Additionally, Judy has been nationally recognized in a number of national real estate trade magazines, some with distribution to over 1 million members. She was featured in Real Estate Today as early as 1994 for her commitment to, and implementation of technology in real estate. Judy appeared in the Certified Residential Specialist Magazine, as she provided advice on marketing strategies and ethics in the article titled "Marketing Makeovers.”
Judy was also featured in REALTOR® Magazine, regarding image enhancement for Realtors. She was again featured in REALTOR® Magazine, in an article on "Achieving Flow” and operating at optimal peak performance. In another article in the same publication, Judy offered guidance to fellow real estate professionals as she explored the topic of implementing and maintaining personal websites. She has appeared in The Council of Residential Specialists Magazine, which featured her ideas regarding technology. Additionally, Judy authored an article on marketing and technology for the Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Online Magazine. On two occasions, in 2015 and 2017, she appeared as a featured agent in Top Agent Magazine. I have a few other websites- www.TheCtrealtyBlog.com www.CtHomesAndRealEstate.com www.BestWestportHomes.com www.ThePetitePowerhouse.com www,SzablakConsulting.com
