Done To Zen

What’s the single most important aspect of buying a home? Can you guess? No? Read on. Or, better yet, post a comment about what you believe is the most important aspect of buying a home. Go on. I’ll wait.

If you had asked me before I bought my home, I would have told you the same thing I read in a hundred different articles: buy what you need/can afford. Well, I might also have said that you shouldn’t settle for the first house you like. Or maybe I would have said that you should buy the worst house in the best neighborhood. Umm, well, I also thought a great, trustworthy real estate agent is a must. Whatever. All of them are important, no doubt about it, but there is something, in my opinion, that’s more important than all the rest combined. And that’s this:

Don’t give into pressure.

If you don’t think that the house is worth what the sellers are asking for, then don’t buy it. It might be (probably is) that ten years from now, the house will be worth more than what it is worth now, but that’s not a good reason to feel unhappy about your decision during the intervening years! You are the one buying the house, right? Why would you buy a house you don’t like just because somebody else thinks that you should? Isn’t that sort of like marrying someone you aren’t completely happy with because your best friend thinks it will be a good match?

I met with all sort of pressures from all sorts of people in all walks of life when buying my home, and I imagine that you will too. Sometimes, their arguments are not very powerful, but you still have to deal with the people because they’re your family. Other times, people will have very persuasive arguments and you will be arguing with yourself. Maybe they’re right. What’s $10,000 more when the house costs almost (or more than) two hundred thousand? Why are you even worrying about such a (comparitively) paltry amount?

I’ll tell you why. It’s because you make an opinion about a house and think that it’s worth something. When you have to pay more than that, you’ll feel bad. When you have to pay less than that, you’ll feel good. It’s sort of like having to pay $5 for a bubblegum. What’s the difference between $1 and $5? You won’t even miss the $5. But won’t you feel crappy — if only for a second — about it?

Remember that your house is not just an asset. It’s where you have to live. What would you rather do? Live in a house that you bought for less than what you think it’s worth or live in a house that you bought for more than what you think it’s worth? Real estate is supposed to be one of the safest investment options, right? All real estate prices will eventually go up, no? Keep it for twenty or thirty years, and you’ll probably see your housing value soar regardless of whether you choose option 1 or option 2 above. So why not as well keep yourself happy in the intervening years by choosing option 1.

It’s not as if you don’t have a choice. Especially in today’s market, there are so many houses on the market that you can keep looking all your life and you’ll be fine (well, unless you’re looking in a town of 10,000, I suppose, in which case none of my advice will apply…maybe).

I’m not saying don’t ever buy a house if you have to pay more than what you think is worth. (Wait, maybe I am saying that.) What I’m saying is that you shouldn’t buy a house you aren’t happy with because somebody else is pressuring you into it.

Remember that, in the end, you’re the one who’s going to be paying for it.