Home buying is super exciting, but it can have some bumps along the way, too. My goal is always to prepare future home buyers on what to expect before they’re in the middle of everything. Here are five stages to prepare yourself for before you start looking for your future home.
Stage 1: Confusion
Everyone starting out on the path to buying their first home enters at this stage. Of course you’re confused! It’s not like they teach us how to buy a house in school or anything (insert eye roll). This is why I spend so much time educating my clients, and potential future clients, through my social media, and why I always want to have a buyer consultation before we start to look at homes. This lets me show you the ropes before we start by providing much needed education on the process and what you can be prepared for along the way.
Stage 2: Excitement
After the initial consultation and you get pre-approved, we set up your official home search and start looking at houses. This where you’re really excited because it starts to sink that you’re officially on the path to homeownership! (And getting to go look at a bunch of houses can definitely be fun, too!) You’ll get excited when you get a new listing in your email, and you’ll experience so much excitement when you find THE ONE and get an accepted offer. Truly a time to celebrate!!
Stage 3: Doubt
It’s to be expected that you may experience doubt at some point along the home buying process, especially in the current market of 2021. Doubt and discouragement can sneak in when it’s taking you longer than expected to find a house you love, or when you write up an offer and it doesn’t get accepted. Sometimes the process takes a little longer depending on a lot of different factors.
BUT – this is where we can regroup and really talk strategy for getting your offer accepted, or look at making possible changes to your search criteria. For instance – maybe you start out looking for a forever home, but realize that you can focus on more of a starter home for now instead. When you get to this stage, I will be here to support you and walk you through it!
Stage 4: Anxiety
When you submit your offer and are waiting to hear back from the other side, you better believe that you’re going to experience some little anxiety butterflies! When we put your offer together, I’m going to talk you through all of the options and strategy for completing it. That way once it’s submitted, you can be reassured that you made your best offer based on your unique circumstances and comfort level. What this means then is that if you don’t get it accepted, it probably wasn’t the right home for you!
Stage 5: Frustration
You will inevitably feel some frustration during this process. There will be times that we’ll have to negotiate with the sellers on price, repairs, and other contingencies, and if the seller isn’t willing to agree to requests, or just refuse to negotiate at all, it will definitely invoke some frustration. Again, when you reach this stage, I’m here to walk you through it and discuss your options. The best thing to do is try to remove emotions and remain calm, and know that everything will work out in the end as it is supposed to.
You know what the best part of going through these five stages during the home buying process is though – the fact that at the end, you go back to Stage 2 – EXCITEMENT!! You made it through and you purchased a home, and all the little bumps in the road along the way will have made it all worth it in the end.
If you’re thinking about buying a home, make sure you to check out my website HERE to see how I can help you get prepared and educated.
If you want to start searching for homes just to see what’s out there in your area, start HERE!
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