Buying a House Can Make You Cry
July 18, 2010
Buying a house can be an emotional process. On top of trying to decide how much house you can afford you’re also attempting to predict how a new house and new neighborhood will fit into your life. Leaving behind what you know and moving to a place with new neighbors, a new commute, a new back yard, etc can be the cause for some late night worrying.
You try and think through all the angles but you won’t really know what the new house is like until you move in and give it a try. You ask yourself, “what if we don’t like it”? Will we regret making the move? The fear of the unknown can be a big stumbling block to making a decision.
The best way I know to decide is to document the pros and cons and work through them several times to try and see it from all angles. I don’t think it’s an easy decision to make but at some point you’ll have to choose one way or the other and as long as you’ve done your research your decision will probably work out okay.
I actually took a break from thinking about buying and selling houses for a bit yesterday and browsed around some personal finance articles online. Below are some of the ones I ran across. There are quite a few, I was trying to clear my head of house hunting thoughts so I read for a while. Enjoy!
Frugality
- Plunge into Summer with Savings @ Little House in the Valley
- Four Reasons To Grow Your Own Garden @ Saving Money Today
- Cheap Wedding Ideas On A Small Budget @ The Digerati Life
- Everyday Conveniences for Cheaper @ Suns Financial Diary
- How to Complain and Get Your Money’s Worth @ PT Money
- How to Save Money While Traveling @ Get Rich Slowly
- 5 Frugal Ways For to Spend Summer Vacation @ Generation X Finance
- Turn Off Your Air Conditioner & Save Summer Money @ Consumerism Commentary
Taxes
- 2010 Sales Tax Holidays @ Five Cent Nickel
- Hike the federal gas tax? @ Don’t Mess With Taxes
- How to Take Charge of the Bush Tax Cuts @ My Dollar Plan
- What’s Going on With the Estate Tax For 2011? @ Good Financial Cents
- Tax Considerations for Unmarried or Same-Sex Couples @ The Oblivious Investor
- How To Make Estimated Tax Payments For the Self Employed @ My Two Dollars
Investing
- Is Generic Financial Advice Helpful or Hurtful? @ My Money Blog
- Why are We so Clueless about the Stock Market @ Beating Broke
- Beware Dividend Reinvestment When Selling Stocks @ Bargaineering
- Stock, Stock Market, Stock Exchange-Explained! @ Millionaire Nurse
Career
- Average Career Salaries @ Brip Blap
- Five Tips When Starting a New Job @ Free Money Finance
Personal Finance
- Money Smart Life Interview @ Couple Money
- Earning More vs. Saving Money @ Lazy Man & Money
- Learning the Hard Way and Being Ready to Learn @ Million Dollar Journey
Debt
- Frugality and Focus in Education @ Studenomics
- Should You Give Even If You’re In Debt? @ Out of Your Rut
- Pros and Cons of Debt Consolidation @ The Money Crashers
- What I Learned from the Prosperity Game @ Eventual Millionaire
- Are These Really 10 Things We Can’t Live Without? @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
- The Secret to Getting Out of Debt: Forget Snowballs & Interest Rates @ Frugal Dad
All posts by Ben Edwards
@Budgeting & @Little House, glad to hear we’re not the only ones who stress out about it!
@Dr Dean, it is the biggest financial decision in your life, unless you decide to marry a spouse with horrible spending habits….
@Kevin leasing for a year is an interesting idea. But what if already have a house payment? Are you suggesting sell your house, then lease the new one?
I agree that buying a house can be really stressful and can lead to some serious gray hairs but I do think it’s worth it in the end. We are now renting our home we bought a few years ago and are getting enough rent to cover our mortgage, taxes and insurance. I feel grateful because we tried to sell and had to do this instead but we have renters and that’s more than most can say.
Thanks for including my post in your round-up.
Thinking about buying a house is stressful! It’s been on my mind for a while and now is sort of on hold. Putting it on hold has relieved some of the stress!
Thanks for including my post (Should You Give Even If You’re In Debt?)!
There’s so much involved in buying a house, and the potential for making a mistake is enormous. I often think it might be better to do a lease/purchase and live in the property for a year before closing on it, that way you can know for sure if you’ll like the house and the neighborhood before committing real money.
Home inspections won’t reveal what you’ll see from living in the house, and the way home owners associations are, you risk moving in and finding out you can’t live with they’re rules. Some of them really are beyond ridiculous.
For most, a home purchase is their biggest financial decision of a lifetime. So, thinking it through is wise.
Good luck and thanks for including me in your readings!
Thanks for including my post!
I cried several times during our house buying process simply due to the stress. Finding a home that’s great for you at a great price is difficult sometimes. As you said, take a break from it to clear your head once in a while or it will consume your mind, lol.