The Money Muse

I just made my first offer on a house over the weekend. The offer was initially accepted, but later declined when I hesitated at a crucial moment. I’m disappointed, but I learned a lot during this process, including:

• Do your research and trust your instincts. I spend a lot of time looking at listings, so when this townhouse came up, I knew it was something special. It was priced well, had a rare courtyard, and although it was a bit outdated inside, I felt the price was right. I trusted my instincts, scheduled a tour the very next weekend, and offered slightly above asking the same day, confident that this home would go quickly. Our offer was accepted the following day.
• Try to get the seller’s agent as your buyer’s agent. This would’ve saved me some heartache. The house was older, and I had concerns about plumbing and wiring. I didn’t realize until too late that some of those concerns had already been addressed. If I’d been working directly with the seller’s agent, they would have had the answers I needed and could have alleviated my concerns right away, keeping the process moving more smoothly.
• You have to be willing to go with the flow and trust the process. This entire process can feel chaotic, especially if you’ve never done it before. After our offer was accepted, we became more nervous. We started to second-guess ourselves, wondering if we’d end up with a money pit. The more real the prospect of homeownership became, the more anxious we got. We had seen an old inspection with notes about plumbing and the roof, and I began to question whether we’d be able to handle the costs of repairs. If we had just gone through the process, our questions would’ve been answered and we would’ve been able to withdraw our offer if we weren’t comfortable with how things were going.
• Approach concerns with curiosity. Looking back, I realize that if we had just asked the seller’s agent about some of the things we were worried about, rather than stewing in anxiety, we would have been reassured. We could have easily resolved some of those questions if we had simply taken the time to communicate earlier. Additionally, if we had asked our realtor earlier about how repairs are usually dealt with after the inspection, we would have been more at ease with the whole process.
• Don’t hesitate at crucial moments. This was the biggest lesson. We hesitated before committing to the next step – the inspection. We didn’t want to waste money on a house we might ultimately decide we didn’t want. But when the seller declined our offer after we waited too long to follow through, we realized we really did want this house. If we had just kept the process moving, we could have negotiated on issues that came up from the inspection. We balked at an important moment when the seller was eager to wrap things up.

Even though I missed out on a great opportunity, I learned valuable lessons. But, as my dad always says, there’s always a better deal tomorrow. Perhaps I’ll find something in a better, more walkable location, with a less outdated kitchen, or near better schools. I do expect more homes to go up for sale over the summer, and, with this experience under my belt, I’ll be ready when they do.