Don’t Let These Common Buyer Fears Wreck Your Home Search

Calgary Real Estate Podcast with Eric Mortimer

To have a successful home purchase, there are certain buyer fears you need to overcome. As a buyer, if you can acknowledge your fears about the home buying process, you can overcome them and move forward with your purchase with clarity, courage, and commitment. What kind of fears do buyers usually have? Here are four of the most common: 1. Fear of loss. In this case, buyers will come across a property and get scared that they have to buy it soon or someone else will. 2. Fear of missing out. Here’s where the analytical brain kicks in and tells you that, even though you really love this house, it’s only the third one you’ve looked at, and there are thousands of more listings on the market you should look at too. 3. Fear of overpaying. Nobody wants to look like they overpaid for something. If you think a house is overpriced, the tendency is to not want to pay too much for it, wonder why someone else hasn’t bought it yet, and/or wonder whether you’d get a good deal or not. 4. Fear that something is wrong with the house. What if there’s a structural defect and that’s why nobody has bought it? If it’s a condo, a structural defect might necessitate a special assessment or increased fees. “It’s not a perfect market out there, and a home’s list price might be either above or below its true value.” You’ve probably heard the phrase, “What you think about, you bring about.” In other words, the fears you think about can manifest themselves in the form of mistakes because you overcompensate to avoid those fears. With that in mind, here are five common mistakes buyers make that are caused by the fears above: 1. Not getting pre-approved. It’s common for people to start searching for homes and making offers without knowing how much they can afford. This can cause you to lose out on the home you want or lead you to become “house poor.” 2. Overpaying. It’s not a perfect market out there, and a home’s list price might be either above or below its true value. Not everyone has access to records of previously sold listings, expired listings, or other statistics that indicate where the market is going. 3. Not having access to all properties. In addition to the properties listed on the MLS, there are “coming soon” listings, “For Sale by Owner” listings, off-market properties, and other options available to buyers. 4. Listening to the wrong people. There are all sorts of people out there who claim to be real estate experts, so make sure you listen to an actual expert. 5. Not having your own agent. Make sure you hire a proper buyer’s agent to represent you. They’ll have a fiduciary duty to you and only you, which will save you thousands of dollars in the long run. Also, make sure you hire the right agent—one who has a team of professionals behind them to look after all of your needs. For example, most agents average between zero and three deals per year. Our team, on the other hand, closed three deals just last week. I don’t say this to brag—I say it to assure you that we cover all our buyer clients’ needs. Here are some specific services we offer that you should look for when selecting your agent: We have a VIP buyer program that gives you access to all properties online and offline We do a careful market analysis to make sure you never overpay for a property We supply competent affiliates and professionals (home inspectors, lenders, lawyers, etc.) If you have any questions about this topic or you have any other real estate needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.