You went through the process to get pre-approved, search for a home, and submit an offer. Now, you don’t know what to do because the home you fell in love with is no longer available to you.
When you lose the house you really wanted, it can be difficult to deal with. However, you still need to find a place to call home. Here are some of the things you should do, if you lose the house you wanted.
Top 6 Tips for Dealing with Losing the House You Fell In Love With
1. Give Yourself Grace
It can be easy to think you did something wrong and costs yourself the house you really wanted. Usually, it just means someone offered more money or submitted their offer before you. You are not to blame.
The first thing you should do when you lose the house you really wanted is to give yourself grace. Allow yourself to feel frustrated, disappointed, and even angry. This is part of the mourning process.
It can be helpful to allow yourself one night or one day to feel this way before moving on. Go do something to relieve the stress and get your mind off home shopping. Then, it’s time to move on and get back to the search.
2. Get Back on the Horse
When you fall off the horse, you have to get back up again. You lost the house. It’s over, but you still need to find a place to live.
It’s time to start moving on so you can find the right home for you. Things move very fast in today’s real estate market and the longer you let yourself have a pity party, the more likely you are to miss out on another great property and not even know it.
Get back to the search and start looking for the next best house. Heck, you might find one that’s even better than the one you lost.
3. Avoid Dwelling on it
You can easily get stuck in a home search rut if you dwell on the home you thought was right for you. Instead, delete the listing, get rid of the pictures, and stop talking about it. You need to move on and quickly.
When you and a significant other split up, someone probably told you, “There are more fish in the sea.” The same applies here, but it’s a house and you didn’t date it for a year before giving it up.
4. Don’t Rush Things
Another thing that can happen when you lose the house you wanted is a rushed purchase. You already pictured yourself in the home and you were ready to pick out furniture and home decor.
This can be a hard frame of mind to snap out of and some buyers might be tempted to rush into purchasing another home. Make sure you’re not just buying the next decent home because you want to buy a home. It needs to be the right home for you.
5. Evaluate Your Offer
Once you’re ready to move on, it’s a good idea to go over your offer with your real estate agent. Have them show you what could be improved or at least help you understand what might have happened.
Sometimes, your offer is very strong and there was an offer that was just slightly better. It’s hard to predict what other people will offer, but it’s also a good idea to see if you could have made a better offer, written a better offer letter, or done something different.
This can help as you move forward and look for another property. You can learn from this offer and make a better offer on the next great home you find.
6. Re-Evaluate the Financial Side of Things
Maybe you found out your offer was too low, but it was at the high end of your budget. When you lost out on the house you wanted, it might be time to re-evaluate your budget.
It’s possible you should be looking in a different price range to give you more flexibility with your offer. Look at your budget and consider making adjustments, if necessary.
Losing the home you really wanted isn’t easy. You might have been all-in on the home and expected your offer to be accepted. Today’s market is filled with homes receiving multiple offers, which means there’s a good chance you will lose a home you really like along the way.
Don’t get discouraged. Use these tips to help you get over the home you lost and move on to find the right home for your family.
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