Are you feeling a little stress creep into your life as you close in on buying your dream home, or take stock now that you’ve made your purchase? Don’t worry: buyer anxiety is a common emotion.
A lot can be at stake when you make one of the most significant purchases of your life. And no matter how well prepared you were in your search for a new home, it’s perfectly natural to be a little anxious now the journey is over.
As an experienced local agent, I want every buyer to be happy with their new home because I’d love to do business with them again in the future. But sometimes, post-purchase anxiety rears its ugly head for no logical reason.
Some buyers worry about how much they’ve paid, or whether they’ve searched long enough and hard enough.
There are proven approaches to ease these concerns, which I’ve shared below:
- Remind yourself why you bought – Take yourself back to the moment you got excited or even fell in love with your new home. Ask yourself, what do I love about it most? How is it improving my lifestyle? Think about all the features that met your criteria for a perfect home. You’ll find a little retrospection will help reassure you.
- List your concerns – Emotions can run away with anyone, especially after a life-changing decision. There is a lot of new responsibility which can be quite confronting. So, sit down and make a list of all the issues that might be keeping you awake. Perhaps it’s the pressure of increased mortgage payments, worry that prices may fall, or worry about how to make some improvements. Put it all down on paper and then figure out how to deal with them or who you can talk to about them.
- Is money the issue? – Talk with your bank, lender or mortgage broker if you have concerns about the ongoing affordability of your mortgage payments. In reality, no institution will have loaned you money without being convinced that you can afford to repay them. Further, they will have assessed the value of your property and considered it a worthwhile purchase. That can be hugely reassuring.
- Experience every room – Take your time to ‘be’ in each room in the home and imagine their optimal use and layout. Make a note of how the natural light fills each room, and how you might make the most of the views from the windows. Ask yourself whether a fresh coat of paint would bring a room alive. Sometimes, the easiest fixes are the best ones.
- Find a favourite spot – Whether you are anxious as a buyer or not, it’s an excellent idea for everyone to find their favourite place in a new home and make that their go-to-point when they want to relax. It grounds you, and the property starts to become very much part of your life.
- Throw a party – Start filling your new home with happy memories. A house party is a great way to start. Your family and friends will surely compliment you on your new home, and that will be so reassuring. If you want to complete a renovation before throwing a party, then have a few close friends over for a barbeque.
In my experience as your local real estate agent, I can assure you that buyer anxiety is a temporary emotion and, ultimately, you’ll fall in love with your new home for all the reasons that made you make the final offer.