Four Ways To Take the Stress out of Buying A Home...

1. Begin with the end in mind. This is imperative. Have an ultimate scenario of where you’re trying to be.

  • What will life be like when you get there? How will it be better than where you are now?
  • Dwell on that picture and write it out, fill at least a page about how it will feel in your new place.
  • Having the goal in front of you at all times energizes you to achieve it. In the face of setbacks and frustrations, emotions will run high. You will need an anchor. Focus on that future goal when anxiety threatens to get the better of you.

2. Be flexible

  • In your monetary calculations, overestimate by a thousand dollars. In this market, anything can happen between contract acceptance and closing. It could be the inspections reveal areas of concern that the seller is unwilling to fix or the repair costs are higher than the amount limited in the contract.
  • Or the interest rate changes which affects the necessary down payment and closing costs you’ll need to come up with. As your real estate team, we’ll strive to tie up loose ends as quickly as possible, but remember there is no perfect world. Most buyers feel a bit overwhelmed when taking on a new mortgage and the responsibilities of a new home.
  • Many buyers become angry when it seems like the cost just keeps going up. Anger is caused when reality doesn’t match up with the expectations you have in mind. If you anticipate this happening in advance, you won’t get angry. In fact, it’ll probably go better than you expected.

3. Trust in the process.

  • There’s just so much to do, it’s easy to panic. You wonder if it will ever work out. In fact, when we bought our house, we couldn’t eat for a day, we felt so sick to our stomachs! You think you’re taking a big chance, but the truth is you’re giving yourself a big chance.
  • Even though you can’t see every step of the way, as you move towards your goals, the way opens up. If you haven’t moved in a long time, it’s a major upheaval in your life. But we’ve been there, many times, and we’ll be looking out for you. Trust that we know the way to get you there.

4. Get knowledge.

  • One thing you’ll probably feel during this transition time is being out of control. It feels like everyone else has taken over your life. The Seller, your Lender, the Appraiser, the Inspectors - they all have the power to say yes or no to your moving plans.
  • We’ll try our best to let you know ahead of time what your expenses will be, and what the unknowns are. We’ll tie down the loose ends as soon as possible. We’ll try to get your loan approved within a reasonable time frame. We’ll educate you as best we can and let you in “behind the scenes” so you won’t ever feel "out of the loop" or out of control.