Purchasing a house is a huge commitment. There are a lot of factors that go into the process of finding a new one. You’ve selected a house in Utica with the must-haves and might have made some compromises, but how do you know you’ve made the right choice?
Buyers Remorse
When you pull into your driveway, do you have a tiny sinking feeling that you wish you didn’t buy this house? Did you have a high-pressure deadline when you made your decision? Did you really do enough shopping to see all the possibilities? Did you explore different areas and keep an open mind, or did you only look in one location? Do you find that your house is really too small to be functional? Or do you think, why do I have so much space? These are all signs that you have buyer’s remorse.
Doesn’t Fit In The Budget
Eating ramen noodles almost every night in order to pay the mortgage was NOT what you had in mind when you pictured yourself as a homeowner. Is the house more of a fixer-upper than you realized? Did you end up putting more money into house repairs than you planned on? Maybe this house doesn’t allow for enough entertainment or savings as you hoped. Perhaps your homeowner’s insurance was more expensive than you planned. These are all signs that this house doesn’t fit your budget and you are probably living in the wrong house.
Neighborhood Issues
Sometimes, we purchase what we believe is our dream home! However, after a few weeks or months, we realize that the location may not be what we expected. From noisy neighbors blaring music at all hours of the night, to loud dogs barking every moment, every neighborhood is different. I remember moving to a town once that had an old school fire alarm. The fire alarm would continuously ring, extremely loudly, until a member of the fire department got to the firehouse and shut it off. The only problem was this was a volunteer fire department in a very rural town. This was a sign for me that I was living in the wrong house.
Utility Availability
Does your new house have well water? When you purchased it, you were happy to not pay high utility bills, but now you realize you are responsible for any well system repair. What if you have to re-drill and move the well system? Do you hate lugging around water softener, or having to pay a company to come out and do it for you? Is your municipality planning a utility expansion in your area, and now you have to add another $20,000 to your tax bill over the next few decades?
Many times utility companies will attach what they call a ‘utility surcharge’ to your bill. A real life scenario would be fi you bought a house in the country and wanted natural gas lines run. If the utility company did not have other customers in the area to service other than you, they could charge you the cost of delivering you your natural gas; including digging the trenches, laying pipe, drilling, etc. They will then amortize that amount over 10-20 years and have you pay them back. These are signs you might be living in the wrong house.
Structural Issues
Perhaps you are totally fine with the house purchase you can afford and love your neighborhood and have no pending utility issues… but you just noticed a crack along the floorboard by the front door. Maybe you dismiss it for the caulk shrinking… and then a few months later, it’s a little bit bigger… and bigger… is your foundation sinking? Maybe there are new cracks by the windows or new water stains on the ceiling… these are all small indicators that your house might have some structural issues. Also, these are signs that you might be living in the wrong house.
How To Escape The Wrong House in Utica?
Utica and NY in general have plenty of cash buyers for houses in any shape. These buyers are a great option to get out of your wrong house ASAP, but prepare yourself to accept less than retail price. They will save you a lot of time and hassle by taking the house off your hands. You might be able to restructure your mortgage or transfer loan to another lender. If you feel you’ve been intentionally misled by the seller or real estate agent, you can file a lawsuit against them, or the inspector if their report didn’t include the major structural issues (check with your lawyer). If now isn’t the right time to ditch the wrong house, perhaps renting a room/the house out might be a good idea and sell when the market is best.