Home Buying and Emotions

Speaker 1: [0:09] Hello there, and welcome to the Awesome in Seattle podcast. Today's episode is all about the emotional journey of buying a house. It is quite an emotional journey, and we are going to get right into it. But first, let's do the introductions. I am Christian Awesome with the Awesome Awesome Group. And I have the rest of our team here. First off, we got the, the wonderful Charlotte Reynolds.

Speaker 2: [0:30] Woo. I'm so

Speaker 1: [0:33] excited. We have the lovely Jason Saldarriaga.

Speaker 3: [0:39] As always.

Speaker 1: [0:41] And for the first time in a couple years, we have back with us here at the Awesome Possum Group at Wilson Realty, the one and only Les Cutting.

Speaker 4: [0:49] Howdy.

Speaker 1: [0:50] Welcome back, Les. Gracias,

Speaker 4: [0:51] señor.

Speaker 1: [0:53] It's been, uh, it's been a while, but we are glad to have you back on the team. Uh, I mean, just for people that don't know who Les is, he has been a real estate agent for what? Four, five, six years, something like that? About

Speaker 4: [1:05] five years. Yeah … something like that.

Speaker 1: [1:07] And, uh, you've kinda seen it all in your time.

Speaker 4: [1:10] I've seen a lot.

Speaker 1: [1:11] Yeah. So, uh, let's get into it. Thanks for joining us, all three of you. Um, so today's episode is all about the emotional journey of buying a house, and to be honest with you, it's an emotional process, and most people don't realize that until they're actually in the thick of it. So part of our job as real estate agents that help a lot of buyers and sellers, and this podcast specifically is all about the buying process, and we have another one about selling, so if you haven't, uh, heard that one, hear that one next. Um, but this, our job as we see it is to educate you, and part of that education process is to get you up to speed on the emotional rollercoaster that you will go through, 'cause everyone goes through it no matter who you are. You will go through this emotional rollercoaster through the buying process. So first off, let's, let's start with the excitement phase.

Speaker 2: [2:08] Yeah. Deciding to buy a house is really, really exciting, almost as exciting as I was just a minute ago to be here today. So for a lot of people, it's like the fulfillment of such a, a big dream that they've had for a really long time, you know? Um, so you start imagining where you're gonna live, what kind of, you know, house you're gonna be in, what your new place might be like. And usually, a lot of buyers start looking online at homes, like even maybe a little bit before they're actually, like ready and able to buy, because they do get so excited about what's potentially out there.

Speaker 1: [2:41] Yeah. The next step after that can sometimes be frustration.

Speaker 4: [2:45] Yes. So in a competitive market like we live in, uh, in Seattle, sometimes you can find a place and not get it. It doesn't happen much with our clients, but it can be frustrating once you do lose out an offer. It's very rare that you win your first offer, so, you know, when you think the house is the one and it's not, you just kinda move forward. One way to avoid being frustrated is, you know, preparing, doing a strategy session with us. And just a side note, the clients that we've had that have lost out on the one- They end up finding a house that they like way better, so don't stress.

Speaker 1: [3:19] Yep. It's true. I mean, af- over my 15, 16 years, clients make an offer on a house, they think it is the one, and they lose out on it, and they're kinda, you know, frustrated, and sometimes, like, super disappointed. But every single time, I don't know how this works or how, or why it works, but every single time they find a better house. It just, it's just the way it goes. Yeah. It always is that way. Um-

Speaker 4: [3:44] I just wanna add one more thing. Yeah. So, like, uh, usually when you get frustrated for losing out on a house, I mean, there's a way to manage it. This is real estate. Keep in mind, if you do all the work upfront to not be frustrated and manage your expectations and kind of know what to expect, um, I tend to find that people end up being less frustrated. I mean, there, there are times in a transaction where people can get annoyed, but if you do the work upfront, you're pretty much solid to go throughout the rest of the transaction.

Speaker 1: [4:12] Yeah. That's a good point. All right, so let's move on. So after frustration, sometimes there's some fear involved because you just lost out on the one. Now what?

Speaker 3: [4:22] Woo-hoo. Fear. I'm exci- everyone's favorite emotion. I'm excited. Like Charlotte Was. No, I'm kidding. You know, unfortunately, fear is pr- a pretty common sentiment during the home buying process for many people. Um, after all, it is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make, so being a little scared is kind of expected. In terms of following what Les was just saying about frustration, right before people make an offer or really right when they submit one, it's pretty normal for buyers to be scared that they made the wrong decision. Your head starts thinking, "What if this isn't the best house? What if tomorrow a better one comes on the market and I m- miss out on that one?" You know, again, these are emot- these emotions are, are, uh, common, and we try to mitigate them by being educated upfront on the market and on the home buying process, and just having a solid real estate team to help guide you along the way is, I think, really essential here with mitigating the fear aspect.

Speaker 1: [5:19] Yep, and I, I would agree, agree with that totally. Um, part of the, our journey with you is to help you kinda lessen the peaks and valleys of this emotional rollercoaster. We try to make them a little more flat by, you know, educating you on the fact that these are going to come up, and that really does help our clients. Um, we've seen it over, and over, and over again. Uh, the next thing after fear is sometimes you feel disappointed. I mean, especially in a competitive market like we are in Seattle, there's some disappointment. But also, even if it's not a competitive market, uh, you can get disappointed after you… Let's say you get your offer accepted, then you have your inspection. Sometimes there's disappointment that can seep in then, for example. Let's say that you find, you know, some things that are wrong with the house. You ask the seller to, you know, repair them or give you a credit so that you can move forward with the, with the house and not buy a house that has these things that are wrong. And sometimes the seller's just super hardheaded and they won't do it, and that's disappointing sometimes too. You're like, "Man, I'm paying a half million dollars or more for this house, and all I need you to do is fix this, you know, $1,500 repair." And sometimes sellers just don't wanna do it. So that is disappointing Well, let's move on to the next one. That would be feeling some nerves, feeling nervous.

Speaker 2: [6:46] Yeah. Nervousness, I think, can come up a lot during this process. You know, you've submitted an offer and sometimes you have to wait overnight, and you know, you feel nervous to find out if you're gonna get it. Or, you know, you do have to at- attend the inspection and you're nervous that they're gonna find something. Um, so it, it's kind of there a- along a lot of the steps here. Um, but the last thing that could really happen that would cause nervousness, um, is potentially an appraisal coming in low. So it is quite nerve-wracking having to wait around to see if the appraisal is going to come in at the purchase price. And if it doesn't, it's not entirely the end of the world in most cases. You do have some options if it does come in low. You can either renegotiate the price with the seller, you can pay the difference between the purchase price and the appraisal value, or you should have the option to back out entirely if, you know, you don't wanna deal with those other two. So a lot is at stake here, especially in a rising market where appraisals aren't always given to come back at value.

Speaker 1: [7:49] Yep. And all this really depends too on whether or not you have specific contingencies in place or not. The majority of the time you're going to have an appraisal contingency- Right … or a financing contingency, which will allow you to do these things. But if, if you're in a competitive market and you choose to waive those, then obviously we're gonna explain what the risks of that are upfront. All right, so let's pretend the contingencies are all gone. Now you're in the acceptance phase.

Speaker 4: [8:18] All right. Well, the contingencies are gone, so nothing will stop the transaction now. Woo. So that pretty much is a done deal, means you've decided to move forward no matter what, and you are expected to move forward and, and perform, uh, to the terms of the contract. Um, so once a buyer fully wraps their head around what's happening, um, they accept the fact that they're about to buy a house, and usually the excitement comes back in.

Speaker 1: [8:43] Yep. And I would say that leads to happiness.

Speaker 3: [8:46] Yay. You know, we work really hard so our clients are happy throughout the home buying process. Um, but you definitely see increased euphoria right before closing, you know, when the buyers are usually feeling just superbly happy and relieved that, like Les was saying, all the contingencies are over and, and they're ready to close. So by that point, you know, you're starting to plan your move, your ducks are truly getting in a row, ducks that have not been in a row for a while. You know? Uh, you're focusing on designing your new space and you just, quite frankly, feel great. It's the light at the end of the tunnel, really.

Speaker 1: [9:27] Yep, exactly. And that's when the last one comes in, and that is relief. It is finally fricking over. You just bought a house. Woo-hoo. That's the fun part, the happiness, like Jason said, the relief. All the stress is gone. Now all you gotta do is move in and decorate and make some memories in your new house. Uh, and that's the best part really. I mean, that's why you do this is to, you know, one, buy a house, but also often it's to build some wealth for you generationally, and that's a big part to… that we don't really talk about too much, especially in this podcast, but that's a part of it. Definitely. So that is it for today. Thanks so much for coming along this journey, this emotional journey of buying a house. This is likely one of the biggest financial transactions or decisions you will ever make. So it's really important to understand and keep this emotional journey, uh, in mind so that you can make informed decisions and you don't let your emotions take over. Uh, if you ever wanna talk about buying a house with us, it's very easy to do so. You can schedule a strategy session right online, right on our website, awesomenossum.com/schedule. It's very easy. It's free. There's no pressure, no obligation. All you do is just schedule it online. Um, and then we chat with you, uh, online, like Zoom or Microsoft Teams or whatever. And, uh, and it's just a simple conversation, and we try and help you understand if this is even a reality for you. Um, and that's really the goal of these strategy sessions. So thank you very much for joining us. We do have another episode all about the emotions of selling. So if you're in that journey, make sure you listen to that episode next. Thanks so much. Talk to you next time.