DEALING WITH BUYERS REMORSE By:John Adams

TEASE: You finally pulled the trigger and you bought your first house. But you are plagued with buyer’s remorse. Should you be worried, or is it time to have a stiff drink and relax?
If you bought a new pair of shoes or even a new car without doing any research, do you think you'd have regrets about the shoes or the new car you purchased?
Here to help in the home-buying process is our own Fox5 Real Estate Expert, John Adams.
Q: John, what’s this all about?
A: Well, here goes ...
- When it comes to shoes, you try them on in the store and stomp around or, if ordered online, you stomp around at home. The shoes may be comfortable during this short artificial exploration, but when you spend a full day walking in them, your feet may experience regret.
- Same is true for a car. After the initial, new car thrill, there may be things about the car that you wish you'd noticed or realized would be important to you before you bought it.
- The lower the amount of research and thought that goes into buying decisions and the greater the emotional impulse that rules decisions, the more regret that results.
So why is anyone surprised at the outcome when very complex real estate purchases are approached in a way similar to shoe and car shopping?
That's the typical buying experience.
Q: So, what can a buyer do?
A: One major difference in home buying is the support and expertise of real estate professionals who can reduce regret when buyers take advantage of this professional edge.
Here, we're concentrating on purchases where everything is completely fine with the house — legally and structurally. Even when all is well, buyers may have regrets about how a home function for them and their family.
Buyers become owners once they move in and live in their new residence — an obvious fact, but that is a shift in perspective that many buyers seem to ignore. New owners will discover things about a home that they may not have realized during their "purchaser's viewing" many weeks or months before—especially in a cleverly-staged property:
- New owners may decide their home feels too small, too large, too expensive, too far from work…too something that becomes obvious after living there a while. Sometimes there are acceptable solutions; sometimes there are very pleasant surprises; sometimes there are only regrets.
- Alternatively, the home may lack something buyers assumed would be there or they had expected to be better. For instance, front hall or foyer closets are often overlooked during viewing. After move-in, all the family "stuff" that must go in that closet may not fit. The same can be true for functionality of the back entrance. In either case, sometimes adding storage or completing a small renovation solves the problem. Other times, buyers must live with regrets.
Savvy buyers can consciously turn the potential for regret into "Buyer BE AWARE!"
Q: SO, how do we avoid buyer’s remorse?
A: When you've spent a few hundred dollars on shoes or several thousand on a car, regrets hurt and frustrate, but you'll bounce back on your next purchase. With each of many purchases, you learn more about what you are paying for and what works for you.
In real estate, the bounce back may be harder. The purchase usually involves hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many people only make three or four home changes in a lifetime. Since these moves may be decades apart, what buyers learn is forgotten or no longer relevant when the next purchase rolls around.
The good news is that buyers today have resources to call on to minimize the number of regrets about buying a home and to evaluate every house in advance:
Consider a property for its functionality, not just its decor. Staging shifts the emphasis away from design flaws and on to superficial decor. Don't just stand in a room's doorway "oo-ing" at the amazing furnishings. Step in and try the room out.
Before you start looking at properties, create a Key Functions Checklist of three to five key functions your family expects to carry out in each section of the house over the four seasons.
Then, while viewing, physically walk through the details to check for fit. With a written checklist, this is simple to keep track of. Comparing properties based on functionality becomes easier.
Create lists of what must be dealt with before you move in and then within the first year. If there is only one area of the home that falls short, lifestyle changes or minor remodeling may reduce the issues to manageable.
Location and "the immovable object". The one thing about a home that cannot be changed or "renovated" is its location. If you are considering an area further away from work, avoid assumptions about commute time. Drive the commute a few times. Visit during rush hours. Talk to real estate professionals with experience in your desired locations to learn about alternatives.
Invest time and effort in selecting the best real estate professional to help you achieve your regret-minimized home purchase. Do the work to make sure the professional's knowledge and expertise are put to good use heading off regret.
INTERVIEWER: OK, so John will be joining us on our FOX5 FACEBOOK PAGE for a Live Chat for the next 60 minutes to answer all your real estate questions. Just log onto FACEBOOK and go to FOX5 ATLANTA to find the chat.
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TAGLINE:
Atlanta native John Adams is a broker, broadcaster, and writer who owns and manages the residential real estate in the Atlanta area. He answers any and all real estate questions on his award-winning radio show every Sunday at 11 a.m. on WGKA 920am. You can contact John through his website at Money99.com
