What Buyers Fear Most:
The homebuying process can be scary for first-time and move-up buyers alike. Slightly more than half of Americans say they feel anxious about the process of purchasing a property, according to a new survey from Ally Home.
In fact, many consurmers are more afraid of purchasing a home than dealing with their fear of committment (89%), filing their tax returns (82%), having a tooth pulled (78%) , or overcoming their fear of heights (75%) the survey found.
“homes are a huge investent, so the purchasing process can feel daunting, especially for first time bueyrs,” says Glenn Brunker, president of Ally Home. “From navigating fluctuations in home prices and mortgage rates to submitting and offer, there is a lot to juggle.”
Real estate professionals can help calm many of these fears for their clients. OJO Labs, a real estate compoany, surveyed 200 home buyers between July 2020 and July 2021 to learn the biggest fears among first-time and repeat buyers. Here’s an overview of what they found.
What First-time Buyers Fear Most:
“For first-time home buyers, financial-related fears made up for four out of the top five fears,” the report from OJO Labs says. ‘Specifically, the fear of not eing able to afford a mortgage and being too nervous to take a look at their own finances ranked as the second and third biggest fears.” First-time buyers also showed FOMO – fear of missing out- and worried that there could be better options they were missing out on.
Waht Repeat Buyers Fear Most:
Even home buyrs who have previously gone throught the process ae still stressed about it. Repeat buyers’ biggest fear is that home prices will continue to rise, followed by a fear that inventory will continue to decline, according to the survey. FOMO also has them concerned.
Buyers Still Must Think Fast, Act Fast
Home buyers don’t have much time to decide whether they want a house or not. As soon as a listing hits the market the rush is on. Homes slaes between July 2020 and June 2021 were on the market for a median of just one week before going under contract, according to the National Association of REALTORS newly released 2021 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. That marks a rcord low in NAR data dating back to 1989.
“There’s no plotting of where the Christmas tree will be and measureing for a couch in that scenario.” Jessica Luatz, NAR’s vice persident of demographics and behavioral insights, told The Wall Street Journal. ” You are making a decision very fast.”
Home shoppers Anshul and Angharad Bharwaj told The Wall Street journal they made more thant 20 unsuccessful offers on homes ince they started their house hunt in Salt Lake City in September 2020 They finally were successful in February after maing an offer on a home within an hour of touring it, even though they were told it was alreay under contract. They submitted a backup offer and purchased the house for $780,000 after the initial offer fell through.
Virtual showing tools are helping buyers visit houses quicker. Forty-three percent of buyers found virtual tour options to be particularly useful over the past year, according to NAR’s report.
To make their offers more competitive, some buyers continue to forgo appraisals and home inspections. Twenty-one percent of buyers waived their inspection contingency in September and 23% waived their appraisal contingency, according to the Realtors Confidence Index Survey for September.
With competition so stiff, buyers are payig full aksig price or more as well. The median slaes price was the full asking price in June, the highest on record in NAR’s data. The median sales price was $305, 000, an incrase from $272,500 compared to a year ago, according to NAR.
In the third quarter, 66% of active home buyers said they spent three months or more searching for a home without success, according to a survey from the the National Association of Home Builders. Forty-five percent of prospctive buyers sya they keep getting outbid by other offers from buyers.
Some recent housing reports have seen signs of a coooling period in many markets, following the typical seasonal pattern. But real estate pros say demad remains high for the limited number of homes for sale and buyers still don’t have much time to reflect on homes or wait to submit offers. “Instead of a house lasting three days on the market, it’s lasting seven days,” Harold Torres, a real estate professional in Orlando, Florida, told The Wall Street Journal, putting the cooling period into perspective. For house hunters, “negotiation and any type of wiggle room is not really there yet.”
-Source: Realtor.com, Wal street Journal 11-12-2021
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