It finally happened; after endless scrolling and looking at countless homes online you found it – the one. It meets nearly all your pre-requisites, and you find yourself already dreaming of the life you’ll live there, the parties you’ll host in that dreamy backyard. But then your offer doesn’t go through. You may have been outbid or a surprise dealbreaker came up in the inspection, and you won’t be buying that perfect for you home after all. As cliche as it sounds ... it wasn't meant to be! I know it's hard to hear, but I promise it's true. When you lose out on a home that you really wanted the heartbreak is real. Buying a home, one of the biggest purchases of your life, is an emotional process. So whatever the reason, here’s how to cope when your dream home gets away.
Let yourself grieve
If you were emotionally invested in a home and you lose out on it, you may have to go through stages of grief before your able to pick yourself up and start hunting again. Don’t pretend it’s no big deal, let yourself process the loss. You were planning the furniture layout and what colour to paint the walls when the home of your dreams was snatched away. Being frustrated and sad can help you get to acceptance and ready fall in love with a new home. Remember, the reality is new homes are coming on the market every day and there will be another one that piques your interest.
Learn from the process
Losing out on an offer doesn’t have to be seen as a failure. Take this as an opportunity to learn from the offer process. What worked and what didn’t work? What might help you have a better shot next time? If you would’ve offered a price higher than your comfortable with or waived a major condition you might have regretted it, and that’s making smart real estate decisions. Now you can take what you learned and apply it to the next house.
List what you liked about the home
Make a list of the aspects you liked about the home – the open floor plan or the big yard with a nice view. Now you can watch closely for these aspects while you continue your search. Also think about the things you liked that you could create in another home. Loved that white kitchen? A little paint can fix that. Use the opportunity to narrow down your must-haves, keeping things that can’t be changed like location, separate from things that you can change, like updating the bathrooms.
Adjust your price range
It can be tempting to look at homes at the top of your budget, but it’s actually more productive to focus on the lower to mid-range of your budget. This is because you always want to be prepared to get into a bidding war with other buyers. If you’re offering on homes at the top of your budget, it’s very possible you’ll get priced out quickly. To help prevent heartbreak, try to avoid homes at the top of your budget so that you have some bidding power.
Make your offer stand out
Losing out on your dream home can be painful, but the good news is there are things you can do to increase your chances of an accepted offer.
· First, make sure that you’re pre-approved well in advance. When that dream home comes on the market, you’ll be ready to go and you can avoid putting in any financing conditions, making your offer more attractive.
· Then, when a home you like comes on the market, don’t hesitate. Go see it ASAP and put in an offer as soon as you can.
· When submitting your offer, make sure it’s strong. You don’t have to go to the top of your budget, but if you really want the home try to avoid low-balling. If they go with another offer, you’ll want to know that you gave it your best shot.
· And lastly, try to be accommodating with your terms. If you want the perfect house, you need to be the perfect buyer by showing the sellers you’re willing to work with them.
No home is perfect. If a home has 80% or more of what you’re looking for then consider that a great match. If you lose out on a home, take solace in that it was probably missing a feature you’ll find in another home.
