Each day comes with the opportunity to make mistakes, feel regret, and learn from the experience. Here, we’ll cover five ways to get over home-buyer’s remorse, that sick feeling you get when you realize that you just plunked down a huge sum of money on a property you’re not in love with.
1. Adjust the monthly budget
If you believe you paid too much for your home or simply got in over your head, the most effective way to take control is to adjust your monthly budget. That may mean cutting the things you can live without (goodbye, full menu of cable channels and monthly wine club deliveries). It may also mean taking on a side hustle to ease the stress of cutting the budget too close each month (hello, online tutoring and selling handcrafted items on Etsy).
There are two essential things to keep in mind as you adjust the budget. The first is that the changes do not have to be permanent. Say you pay off credit debt or some other kind of loan and find that your budget suddenly feels more manageable. Feel free to add a luxury or two back in. As long as you have enough in an emergency savings account to pay unexpected expenses, splurging now and then is not a bad thing.
The other thing to remember is that cutting all pleasure from your life will only make you regret the house more. Be sure to build in small pleasures, like special meals and events.
The goal of adjusting the budget is to feel less constricted by the cost of maintaining your home.
2. Imagine what “can be”
If you’re feeling remorse because the house isn’t quite what you thought it would be, reframe that sentiment. After all, any changes you make from this point forward will reflect your preferences, your tastes. Even if it takes years to make the changes you desire, planning can be half the fun. And if you’re busy planning, you have less time for regrets.
Imagine your house as a blank canvas, and you’re the artist who’s going to make it “just right.”
3. Remember your long term goals
When my son and daughter-in-law finished grad school and moved to the suburbs, they bought a small house in a sad-looking neighborhood. I remember wondering why. When I asked them about it, they told me that the home purchase was part of a 10-year …….
Source: https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/mortgages/articles/5-cures-for-home-buyers-remorse/