There’s a lot of waiting in home buying. From getting your loan approved to closing the deal, you’ll encounter a series of delays and interludes along the way. But perhaps the most patience-stretching will be the actual home search.
You’ve been hunting for weeks and months already, but you still haven’t found the one. What’s more frustrating is that you know it’s just out there, but you can’t seem to be at the right place, at the right time. If you’ve been in the market for so long now and you still haven’t located the perfect new house, these may be the reasons why:
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You’re dreaming too big.
Every homebuyer goes into property hunting with a dream home in mind — industrial-style interiors, granite countertops, spiral staircases, matte bathroom fixtures, etc. When you’re so engrossed with these pretty ‘add-ons,’ chances are, you’re crossing potentially good houses off your list, thus the feeling of never finding ‘the one.’
The truth is, the right house is the one that meets your needs when stripped off of the aesthetic details. So take a look back at the things you’re looking for at a house, particularly your deal breakers list. If all it has are pretty things, it’s time to replace them with the really-important features.
Instead, focus on the number of rooms, type of floor plan, and location — things that will have a hard hit on your lifestyle if you don’t get them right. Once you’ve homed in on that good non-negotiables list, that’s when you hunt again. Consider this house and lot in Cavite, and you might just find ‘the one’ finally.
You’re hunting in one area only.
Most buyers only consider one neighborhood in their search. Sometimes, they do this because they want to be near a certain school, for the benefit of the kids. Other times, they want the vibe of the community. But the thing is, shopping in one area alone can significantly shrink your pool of choices.
The better approach is to qualify what you’re looking for in a neighborhood, listing that down and communicating it to your agent. With that criteria, they’ll be able to suggest other equally-good alternatives.
So when you’re drawn to a certain type of neighborhood, ask yourself, what makes this area so appealing to me? What’s in it that I love the most? Jot them down. Don’t leave it as a mental note, because chances are; you will forget them just before you’re able to relay them to your agent.
You’re looking at homes without a budget in mind.
When you see houses that come with a $500,000 price tag, but you find out later on that you’re only approved with a $200,000 loan, it’s going to be a major letdown that would make it hard for you not to compare the extravagance of the properties your earlier saw.
And so every $200,000-house won’t be ‘the one.’ It’s not going to be the best, you’ll say. This is the reason it’s crucial to postpone looking at homes if you still haven’t been pre-approved yet. Or if you’re really itching to see pretty interiors, at least your mind should be conditioned in such a way that it’s conscious of the parameters of your not-yet-finalized-budget.
This way, you can tame expectations right off the bat. That said, if you haven’t drafted a budget yet, shop around for loans and talk to lenders to know how much house you can afford.
Patience in the Home Buying Process
Again, the home buying journey has a lot of setbacks, especially the home search. But if you can avoid these things mentioned, you can make it a little bit more bearable. Have patience. You’ll get ‘the one,’ that special new house, eventually.
Despite freelancing to make a living, her love is "all things home."
Deborah grew up in a family that grew a large vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, helping her parents pull weeds and can home-grown foods as part of her childhood. In fact, she had no idea that she could purchase veggies and fruits in pre-packed steel cans until she went to college and made a food run.
Today, she lives in Bertie County, North Carolina, an agricultural rural area with more chickens than people. She lives with her husband and two rescue pets a sweet toy fox terrier and a cat who showed up one day and moved into the house. Together, they enjoy DIY projects, furniture refinishing, gardening, and canning.
This blog celebrates all things home.
