Why You'll Regret Buying A Home In 2022
What's gram up! It's guys, you here. So, the other day, I was minding my own business, reading the internet while sipping on some coffee from bankrollcoffee.com. And all of a sudden, this headline hit me like a ton of bricks: A brand new survey just reported that 75 percent of recent home buyers regret their purchase, with 50 concerned about home affordability and 40 wishing that they just held off and waited a little longer. Not to mention, my fellow millennial generation isn't doing any better either, with 80 percent of them having at least one regret from their home purchase, all of which could have entirely been avoided had they just seen a video like this instead.
So, if someone has worked full-time in real estate since 2008 and has personally bought eight properties over the last decade with zero regrets, we need to address these issues and talk about what's going on so you don't make these same mistakes as well. Because this one has a lot less to do with the current state of the real estate market and a lot more to do with poor planning and short-sighted mistakes that anyone could easily avoid in less than 15 minutes by smashing the like button for the YouTube algorithm.
Okay, I know I joke all the time about smashing the like button and subscribing, but in all seriousness, the more likes a video gets, the more likely YouTube is to promote this video to a brand new audience who can also smash the like button. Plus, as a thank you for doing that, in the next 3.72 seconds, I'll show you a picture of a baby possum! So, thanks so much. And now, with that said, let's begin to start.
It's important to give you an overview on the current state of the market because on the surface, if you're a buyer, things are about to get a lot more difficult. For instance, it was just reported that the U.S. housing market is now worth twice as much as it was 10 years ago in the middle of the Great Recession. Inventory is now 50% lower than it was just two years ago, and because of that, 45% of homes are sold within the first week, with 70% winding up in a bidding war. All that means that most likely, you're paying over asking at a time where home affordability dropped to its lowest point on record.
On top of that, we also have a unique position where the Federal Reserve just raised their benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points, signaling that if you're looking to get a mortgage, now is probably going to be a lot cheaper than later. In fact, Bank of America recently said that while higher mortgage rates would price out some buyers, it won't be enough to stop the housing market from posting strong home price growth this year while the market increases another 10% throughout 2022. But even though some markets are beginning to decline, home buying regret is not.
So, here's why and what you could do to avoid the worst possible mistakes. First, this survey from Zillow found that 40% regret their purchase because of too much maintenance, which I have to say this one has to be planned for and expected ahead of time. Especially when a generation like Millennials are 20% more likely to purchase a fixer-upper. Like, when you're renting a home, chances are unless you purposely go out of your way to break something or attempt a DIY project that goes horribly wrong, chances are your landlord is going to fix it. But that doesn't happen when you own the home yourself.
When it comes to this, it's really important to realize that with real estate, your payment doesn't just stop with the mortgage. You're also responsible for property taxes, insurance, regular maintenance, and the high likelihood that something is going to break the moment you buy it. As a real estate agent, I've seen too many situations where an overhead light or an outlet just stops randomly working for no reason, a sprinkler starts spraying water in all the wrong places, or one that happened to me recently on a rental property: a rodent got launched in a pipe, which then caused water to overflow behind the drywall. Seriously!
Not to mention everything in a property has a lifespan in which it will eventually need to be repaired or replaced. For example, roofs usually last anywhere from 15 to 25 years, water heaters last 10 to 15 years, AC units last 10 to 15 years, garbage disposals last a few weeks with a new tenant, and so on. And when you begin to average these costs over the entire course of your home ownership, you'll quickly begin to realize that it adds up faster than you expect.
On top of that, most people are not aware that the price of labor, materials, and wait times have increased substantially over the last two years. So, it could be quite a shock when you see what a 2022 repair bill looks like compared to what it used to cost back in the olden days. So as an easy way to make sure you do not fall victim to one of these mistakes:
Number one: A home inspection would uncover a lot of these issues before you even buy a house. Just knowing what equipment is near the end of its lifespan and what's likely going to need to be replaced over the next year is going to leave you a lot better prepared for those items to actually break and how much they're going to cost.
And two: Expect that your maintenance is going to cost you a few hundred dollars a month at minimum on top of all of your other payments just for the random items that break out of nowhere, because that's life. Preparing for this ahead of time and building it into your budget is going to greatly cut down on the amount of regret you feel because you'll be going into it knowing exactly what to expect.
The second: 32% say that they regret their purchase because it's too small or lacks features. And unless you're one of the 90% of Millennials who say that they would buy a home site unseen, this is somewhat preventable. Now, of course, it's important to realize that in a highly competitive market like this, there will be compromises. Unless you have an unlimited budget to build the perfect fairy tale dream home in a perfect neighborhood without noisy neighbors, you're not going to get everything you've ever wanted.
In this case though, 39% said that the location increased their commute time and 25% say that they bought in a bad area. They blame this on the competitive housing market combined with the willingness to compromise just for the sake of buying a house, but evidently that's also leading to some regret. In my opinion, it's reasonable to underestimate the amount of space you'll need in a house. Sometimes life just happens and things change.
Even in my case, I moved into a 3,800 square foot home, which is way more space than I ever thought I would need. But once I built out a home office, a podcast studio, and a guest bedroom, all of a sudden, I thought to myself, I need some more space. However, the reality is most likely the home you buy today is unlikely going to be the home you'll stay in for the next 15 to 20 years.
On average, according to the data, you'll probably be moving again in 13 years if not sooner. From this perspective, any size setbacks are only temporary. Most likely you'll be able to make it work, and there's nothing that says you can't make adjustments in the future to find a different property that better fits your needs. Anecdotally, I also think there's the aspect of hedonic adaptation where within a few months you get used to your new home, and what you thought was the right size quickly then becomes too small.
I felt the same way moving from an 800 square foot duplex to an 1,100 square foot home to a 3,800 square foot home, and I have a feeling that will continue through the end of time because that's how our minds are wired. So, as for the location, unless you're buying a home by throwing a dart blindfolded onto a map, this doesn't change and it's going to be up to you to spend the time getting to know the new area before you actually go and buy the house.
This is probably a lot more prevalent now, given that 97% of home buyers shop for houses online, maybe before realizing that it might not be in the best of areas. That's why I always recommend stopping by the home in the morning, afternoon, and late at night, and preferably, if you could meet the neighbors, do it. You'll learn a lot about the problems, like the people who like to throw late night parties or the people who have not yet gotten their free stock.
Down Below in the description, it's worth all the way up to a thousand dollars when you sign up for public using the code Graham. The location is something that should thoroughly be investigated before a purchase, and unfortunately, this is the one aspect of the property that you cannot change. But this is also an aspect that so many buyers overlook when they're in a rush to buy whatever they can.
Third, 28% said that they've regrets because their mortgage payment is too high, which I interpret as the combination of two issues. First, they didn't get the lowest interest rates according to 26% of the surveyed or two, they spent more than anticipated. Now, because these encompassed two separate problems that both result in a high mortgage payment, let's start with the first one: a high interest rate.
To me, this sounds like a mistake of not shopping around and not doing enough research to make sure the rate you're being quoted is actually the most competitive rate. Even from my own experience buying multiple properties over the last decade, your first loan amount is never going to be the lowest rate, and it's up to you to shop around to find a more competitive offer. Here's the thing: banks almost always have a template from which they work from, where they offer you a standard rate upfront, and they will not budge on that until you present them with another lower offer.
Instead, in this case, if you're trying to get the best interest rate, go and get one quote, take that to a second lender, have them beat it, take that to a third lender, have them beat it again, and repeat that process until eventually you get to the point where your interest rate won't go any lower. According to a study in 2021 by Freddie Mac, just getting one extra quote saved an average of fifteen hundred dollars over the life of a typical loan, and getting five quotes saved an average of three thousand dollars. So don't be lazy and get multiple quotes.
And second, it's expected that in a market like this, it's hard not to feel like you're overpaying more than what a home is worth just for the opportunity of being able to buy it. From my experience, the best way to deal with this is to have a strict budget in mind ahead of time and only pay up to the point where you wouldn't mind walking away from the deal if it goes above that amount. This is going to prevent those buyers from getting caught up in the moment, paying more because they didn't want to lose it, and then eventually realizing that maybe they paid more than they should have.
In addition to that, quite a few buyers failed to realize that a mortgage is only going to be part of your payment, and once you add in property taxes, insurance, and maintenance, and repairs, it's going to be a lot higher. Just consider that on a four hundred thousand dollar home, your mortgage payment is going to be $1,432 a month with 25% down, but with property taxes, random county assessments, and insurance, expect to pay more like $1,982 a month. And all of a sudden, it's easy to see how this amount adds up a lot faster than you would expect.
And finally, twenty-four percent worried that their home was a bad investment. For this one, we have to dig a little bit deeper. Recently, it was reported that 40% of homeowners had to take on a second job to afford their housing expenses, and throughout the last year, a record low number of consumers believe that now is a good time to buy, signaling that maybe the priorities towards home ownership are changing.
But even so, how could you call housing a bad investment when prices typically increase each and every year, with home ownership being called the greatest wealth creation in America? In terms of real estate, the general rule of thumb is that a mortgage is a great way to act like a forced savings account because every single month that you make a payment, you're building equity in an appreciating asset.
But to really come up with the right answer, you have to compare it to the cost of renting and the opportunity cost of investing your money elsewhere. For example, if you could rent a home for $2,500 that would otherwise cost you a million dollars to buy, then renting is the better option, assuming you could invest the difference. But all things being equal, the biggest opportunity when buying a home is getting to control a large asset for a low down payment that hopefully goes up in value over time.
The issue that I typically see is that most people buy a home at the top of their price point, while maxing out the loan that they could qualify for, without fully understanding the cost of buying a home. This leads to overspending on a property that costs more than it appreciates and quickly becomes a bad investment faster than you could say, "I subscribed for the YouTube algorithm!" Though sure, home equity is considered very safe, and the likelihood of you losing money over 30 years is pretty much just non-existent, as long as you make your mortgage payment.
But you're doing that at the expense of investing your money elsewhere at a potentially higher profit margin, and that needs to be considered. Now, in terms of running the numbers to determine whether or not buying is the right choice, the New York Times created this incredible calculator that shows you every aspect of owning a home and whether or not it's cheaper to buy or rent based on your own neighborhood and tax bracket. So, I would highly recommend checking this out.
Although, as you can see, there are plenty of variables in which renting is simply the better option, but not always. Which is why I have to look at everything to determine what's better for you and understand that just because you buy a home doesn't automatically make it a good investment. I generally encourage anyone who's buying a property to do so with the intention of living there at least five to eight years.
Understand why you're buying the property in the first place and what problems that's going to solve. And anytime you're ever buying anything, never max out what you could afford. That way, in the event of a job loss or reduction in income, you won't have to worry about unexpected repairs or a higher mortgage than you would have liked because you will have prepared ahead of time with a buffer effort to make sure you could always continue those payments.
For me, real estate has easily become one of the best investments that I have ever made, but that didn't automatically happen. And just because you buy a home doesn't automatically mean it's going to make you money. I think it's reasonable to expect that as a buyer, you're going to have to make some sacrifices, and that's just part of life. You're not going to get the home that you've always wanted, and that's okay. Use this as a stepping stone to learn, get used to the idea of home ownership, and over time, you could slowly trade up to the home you've always wanted to live in.
So, with that said, you guys, thank you so much for watching! And also, if you want a daily newsletter with market updates just like this, I'll link to the Hungry Bowl down below in the description where you can type in your email address. It's totally free, and every single day, you'll get something new. So, with that said, you guys, thank you so much for watching! Also, make sure to subscribe, feel free to add me on Instagram. Until next time!