Should You Buy an Orange County House Just Because You’re Tired of Shopping?

I’ve helped many buyers, both first time buyers and others who have bought before, and they buy for many different reasons.  They may buy because they are getting married, because they are having another child, because they want a second home, a beach house, a retirement home, to build equity, for security.  There are many, many reasons to buy a home.

But, there are also reasons not to buy a home. 

Should you buy a home because the home buyer tax credit is expiring?  This may be heresy, but I don’t believe this is a good enough reason to buy.  It may be an impetus, but it should not be a resason in and of itself.

Should you buy a home just because interest rates are historically low or because median home values in Orange County have fallen 40%?  Again, I don’t believe these are reasons in and of themselves, but they may certainly be a factor in your purchase.

Each person should have their own reasons, needs and goals they are fulfilling when purchasing a home.

However, I came across one recently with which I disagree.  Buying a home just because you are tired of looking is not (in my opinion) a good enough reason to buy even in this time when so many people are putting in multiple offers because of low inventory. 

You cannot just return a home if you decide you don’t want it.  Perhaps you are used to returning an item to the store if you decide later it wasn’t right for you. Perhaps you don’t mind paying a 5% or 10% or 15% restocking fee. 

It’s not that simple when you buy a home.  If you decide the fit of the home isn’t right.  Did you ever think about the fact that the “restocking fee” to sell a home you don’t like is likely to be 8% or more.  This is $40,000 on a $500,000 home.  This doesn’t account for your own closing costs to buy the home.

Now, this does not mean that I believe that everyone will find their perfect, dream home and that they should not buy a home until they find “the one.” Because if this is what they expect, they’re likely to be disappointed, but if your expectations are reasonable for your price range, be patient until the right one comes along.  And, if I show my clients several homes, and they don’t find one, we sit down to re-evaluate what they truly want and need so that we aren’t spinning our wheels.  But, we don’t just pick a home because they’re tired, we sit down and discuss what’s missing in the homes we’ve seen and what works for them.

So, if you are thinking about buying a home just because you are tired of shopping, make sure you won’t regret it and wind up paying a restocking fee.

See below to see first time home buyers who found the right home and are not concerned with facing a restocking fee.