We've been searching for months and have made bids on two houses but after the inspections we withdrew our offer. How long does the average person search before buying their first house?
2007-05-22 08:18:51 · 5 answers · asked by TD 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
Most people go thru stages in their home search.
The first stage is full of education. They are figuring out what kind of home they want and how much they can afford. They do most of this over the Internet now-days. They may want to walk thru some homes during this stage but not many. This is when you decide which community you want to live in, if you want one or two stories, and number of bedrooms and such. This could last a long time before they get up the nerve to move forward to actually seriously shopping for a home.
When you are serious you should visit with a loan officer and get pre approved for a loan. Then visit with a Realtor and find it. If you looked at the computer a lot in the first stage, you may only spend days or a few weeks finding the right house.
When you find the "right" house and write a contact, if you are like most normal people you will experience doubt about whether you are making the right decision. In marketing circles they call this "post purchase cognitive dissonance". When you feel this way remember the research you did to reassure yourself that everything will be OK.
Of course if you find bad problems in the inspection or any other substantial new information about flooding or such then you may need to change your mind.
Most people don't back out of their transactions over repairs because the sellers normally agree to do most reasonable repairs. It is rare to have to back out of two. You may just have a run of bad luck or it may be a sign that you will be happier with a newly built house than an older house.
2007-05-22 09:19:47 · answer #1 · answered by glenn 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on a lot of things, including how much inventory is available and how motivated you are.
I have been searching for about a year and I'm still at square 1. I don't need a house until August, so I'm all right.
2007-05-22 09:06:25 · answer #2 · answered by Niki 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Could take up to 2 years. If you want to buy a house you look till you find something you like that is worth the money. Its a big investment and most people want to be happy with there decision.
2007-05-22 08:34:18 · answer #3 · answered by Dixie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That depends on how specific your requirements are. It makes sense to be pretty specific - you'll probably be living with the decision for a long time.
2007-05-22 08:34:07 · answer #4 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it took me 1 and 1/2 years. no rush..it is buyer market.
2007-05-22 09:47:43 · answer #5 · answered by seafood10 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋