Five Tips for Beating Buyers Remorse

With the first time homebuyer’s tax credit ending last week, loan applications for mortgages were up by nearly 10 percent over the last couple months. This shows that home buyers were hoping to hurry and beat the deadline so they could take advantage of the credit as well as the low mortgage rates by purchasing a new home. But did some of the buyers rush into something that they did not really want? Are they going to look at their new home and wonder what they got themselves into simply because they rushed to make it happen? If this sounds like you either today or in a few months, here are some tips to help you beat buyer’s remorse.

1. Make your home your own. This might sound like a no-brainer, but one way to beat buyer’s remorse is to decorate your new home the way you want to decorate it. Don’t worry about how it’s “supposed” to look, just make it unique in such a way that it fits your personality and your lifestyle. It’s your home and you can do what you want to with it as long as it fits within the confines of your particular housing association (assuming that you bought a home in a housing association).

2. Stop dwelling on it. If you have bought a home and you are unsure if you made the right decision, just move on. Whether you made the right decision or not is a moot point because now you own the home. Stop dwelling on what you should have done and make the best of your new investment.

3. Have a housewarming party. By inviting your family and friends to your new home, you will feel like you accomplished a great task. You now have a beautiful home where you can entertain all of those people who are close to you. Planning for a housewarming party will also motivate you to clean up your new house and make any repairs beforehand. When you see your home’s full potential, you will be excited about being the new owner of it.

4. Mingle with your neighbors. The more friends you make in the neighborhood, the better you will feel about living in your new home. Invite them to your housewarming party so you can introduce yourself and your family. Wave to them when you see them outside. Bake some cookies and go door-to-door when you first move in to introduce yourself. Bring the family along and introduce them as well. There simply isn’t enough of that in today’s society and once your neighbors get over the initial shock, you will probably become great friends with them.

5. Think of the positives. There are many great things about owning a home. It is a sense of accomplishment. Owning your home allows you more freedom. Owning your home gives you more space. It also makes you feel more grown-up. Focus on these attributes and your buyer’s remorse will soon disappear.