Buyers' Remorse
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Anonymous
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We purchased a house this summer. It was in our first choice neighborhood, but a little smaller than ideal and needs some renovations upstairs (especially to the bathrooms). Will need a new roof and furnace within 5 years.
Since we bought it, two new homes have been listed in our neighborhood in the bigger and nicer model that I originally wanted. Although our realtor had said these models were out of our price range, both are within our price range (at the very top end of it, about 10% more than what we paid). What's worse is that these homes have new roofs and new systems and require no renovations, so at the end of the day would have ended up costing us the same as our house. I am trying not to be mad at my realtor, my house, or even myself for not waiting longer or negotiating a lower price. I know that all that really matters at the end of the day is health and happiness, not materials things. But it just makes me angry that now I am stuck in a smaller fixer-upper when I could have gotten a perfect, larger home for essentially the same price. Anyone else dealt with buyer's remorse? Any words of wisdom here? |
Anonymous
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Conditions always change. Were you happy with the deal that you got at the time to get your kids into the right school?
Remember a few things. First, the homes that are coming on the market now are harder for families because to buy it now means that children will be uprooted from their school in the middle of the school year. Second, some of these newer homes may be "priced to sell", e.g. they are priced low end expecting multiple bids and will end up selling for more than the list price. Compare these homes to the current comparables and if they are better than the comparables (of which you'll be one of them), likely they'll be getting more offers. If you had waited and then bid on one or both of those homes and been outbid in a bidding war, you'd still be waiting to get into your neighborhood of choice, and feeling like you couldn't afford to get into the neighborhood. Instead, you are in the neighborhood and your kids are in the right school. Presumably, you bought last summer and got your kids into the school for this school year. Wasn't that one of the reasons? |
Anonymous
| I've felt this way with every house I/we have bought! |
Anonymous
Me too! I think it's normal to have buyer's remorse on such a big purchase. We bought our "dream house" a year ago and guess what... I'm having buyer's remorse that we didn't stay in our old, too-small, in-need-of-updating house b/c we loved all our neighbors the new neighbors aren't as friendly. |
Anonymous
| Realtors are assholes, he obviously misled you to overpay. He knew similar homes are priced lower than what you paid but since inventory was low he was trying to get commission. |
Anonymous
| The houses came on the market after your bought your house. How in the world would anyone know they were coming on the market prior? You purchased in the summer, I'm assuming these homes have come on the market 6 months later. |
Anonymous
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Like the most successful auctions on eBay, you must have the courage to price your home reasonably "low". Then buyers are attracted like gnats and they lose their shirt in a bidding war.
We missed out on a supposedly pristine house that was priced in the low 600Ks - the actual sale price was 100K more! Now we are happy with our small fixer-upper, that cost about the same but is redone exactly to our taste 
And most important: unless the house is new AND build by good people, you can never predict what defects a house hides that you will have to repair - even with an excellent home inspector (they can't see through walls). Believe me, I know from experience. So in the end, stop making impossible comparisons! Renovate and decorate to your heart's content. Find nifty storage solutions! |
Anonymous
| You bought in a falling market and price dropped further, that's all. |
Anonymous
I felt this way a week after I got married. 
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Anonymous
Agree - the sense of community, friendly neighbors, same-aged kids living nearby are priceless. I wish I could trade back our SFH for our TH. The TH would be cozy, but at least I wouldn't feel isolated and the kids would have friends. |
Anonymous
| See some of the other threads about being underwater and count your blessings. It could be so much worse for you. |
Anonymous
| Plus our furnace has lasted 10+ years past its projected useful life, so you never know... |
Anonymous
| We sold our condo last year and I have regretted it since the moment we moved into our SFH. I get really upset about it every few months and thought I would be over it by now. I have come to the conclusion that I don't think I will ever really be over it and just need to accept that it is what it is. |
Anonymous
What do you regret PP? Moving in to a bigger place? The higher costs of a SFH? Or the community? I'm just curious because we're debating a similar move from a condo/TH to a SFH. TIA! |
Anonymous
+1 Ours, too. |