Every house-hunter
has a wish list, and every homeowner probably has a “wish I researched” list.
In fact, 80 percent of homebuyers have at least one major regret about their
new home, according to a recent HSH.com survey of 2,000 U.S. adults at least 25
years old. Only 20 percent of respondents said they had no regrets about their
home.
Among the most
common regrets: Nearly 16 percent said their home was too small. More than 9
percent said their home didn't have enough storage or closet space. Smaller
percentages weren't happy with their neighbors or school system or felt their
home had too few bathrooms, a too-small yard, not enough natural light or
too-high maintenance costs. Fewer than 3 percent said their home was too big.
Most people know
they'll have to give up something they want, says Bunni Longwell, a Realtor at
Keller Williams Realty St Pete in St. Petersburg, Florida. "Everybody's
wish list is 'I want a pool, I want 2,500 square feet, I want to be on the
waterfront and I want to pay $100,000.' If we can't find all those things, what
would you sacrifice?" Longwell says.
The few buyers who
seemed to get everything they wanted apparently were willing and able to pay
more to achieve that goal. Rather than sacrifice any major item on their list,
they're willing "to come up on their price if 98 percent of their wish
list is covered," Longwell says.
Future needs
Buyers' regrets
don't always surface right away, adds Jake Russell, a Realtor with Keller
Williams Realty in Waco, Texas. Only later do buyers figure out their
once-adequate home is too large or too small for their family, which might include
an aging parent moving in or an adult child moving out. "People don't
think about what they'll need three or five years down the road," Russell
says. Other issues come up, too. "People don't buy a master bath with
enough amenities or a kitchen with enough storage. Those are the type of thing
that, until you live in a home, you don't realize," Russell says.
Daily regrets
For some buyers,
regrets are just a minor annoyance. For others, however, they're a significant
irritation. Nearly 36 percent of survey respondents who expressed regrets said
they thought about their disappointment only occasionally. But more than 37
percent thought about their regret frequently, and almost 22 percent thought
about it every day.
Buyers can avoid
some regrets by spending more time inside for-sale homes, says Ken Pozek, a
Realtor with Keller Williams Realty in Northville, Michigan. "You can only
see so much online. You have to touch it and feel it," he says.
Research matters
Buyers' regrets
typically weren't directly due to inadequate research. Yet in some cases, more
research might have helped. More than 60 percent of survey respondents said
they researched local schools, property taxes, commuting distances, home
insurance costs or characteristics of neighborhoods or neighbors. But large
proportions admitted they'd overlooked factors they later wished they'd
reviewed more carefully, though 10-14 percent said one or more issues wasn't
relevant to their situation.
The HSH.com survey
found:
25 percent of
homebuyers wished they had researched their new neighborhood or neighbors.
22 percent wished
they'd researched homeowner insurance costs.
More than 20 percent
wished they'd researched property taxes.
14 percent wished
they'd researched local schools.
Resale regrets
Almost 47 percent of
survey respondents said they'd researched sex offender registries. But another
30 percent said they didn't research that information and later wished they
had.
While that
information might not seem immediately relevant -- 23 percent of the buyers said
it didn't apply to them -- it can become be important later on.
"It's a
terrible thing for a child predator to be in your neighborhood," Russell
says. "If you have kids, it's beyond terrible. Some people are at a time
in their life when it's bad, but (they decide to purchase the home anyway).
When they want to sell, everyone who wants to buy has kids, so it's no
deal."
Local factors
Homeowners also
manage to overlook research related to specific local concerns. Longwell cites
flood insurance as an example. "In Florida, we have homeowner insurance
and flood insurance," she explains. "That's completely off the radar
when buyers look at areas. They've done research. They know where they want to
live. Then the Realtor tells them they have to add $150 a month for flood
insurance, and they say they never thought of that."
By: Marcie Geffner, www.hsh.com
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