Yahoo Finance I Bought a Home in 2023: Here Are My 5 Biggest Regrets
When Melanie and Becca fell in love with the idea of owning a home in sunny Los Angeles, they pictured an idyllic journey peppered with open houses and fresh paint swatches. But the reality of 2023’s housing market delivered a much bumpier road, paved with bidding wars, compromises, and financial strains.
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After a marathon search, the couple finally snapped up a dated fixer-upper to call their own. But, settling into the long-awaited space, a slew of regrets began creeping in — the harsh tradeoffs made and dreams deferred in the scramble to plant roots before getting priced out entirely.
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Regret No. 1: Watching Our Dream Neighborhood Slip Away
Melanie and Becca’s quest began with an image of a charming Spanish-style bungalow nestled in Eagle Rock, their longtime favorite LA enclave. They envisioned sipping morning coffee on a covered patio, soaking in sweeping views of the Verdugo Mountains. But limited inventory in the coveted ZIP code left few options, and those few were magnets for swelling competition. Open houses drew mobs of buyers brandishing stacks of over-asking offers — cash buyers among them waiving contingencies.
“It was total madness,” Melanie recalled. “We must have submitted a dozen bids, each one higher than the budget we originally set. But we still always lost out to these all-cash warriors swooping in ready to pay anything.”
After months of defeat, the couple resigned themselves to letting go of their Eagle Rock fantasy… for now. With their home savings dwindling, they could no longer afford a drawn-out waiting game. Expanding criteria meant moving farther from the trendy hub they always envisioned calling home. But it also opened more possibilities.
Regret No. 2: Settling for a Fixer-Upper That Didn’t Fit Our Vision
In their widened search, Melanie and Becca discovered more options in LA’s artsy Highland Park area — a sought-after neighborhood in its own right. And while the Spanish-style homes reminded them fondly of Eagle Rock, most required major renovations after years of neglected updates. The couple toured garage conversions, odd houses stripped of all charm, and more than a few boasting decades-old appliances and threadbare carpets.
After the tenth so-so listing, Melanie and Becca lucked upon an open house for a 1920s bungalow with good bones. The dated kitchen was cramped but functional. Layout was inefficient, but workable. And while the home’s flaws dampened their enthusiasm, Melanie and Becca saw its potential. So they made an offer, crossing fingers they’d finally snag a place to start building that long-held vision of home.
When their bid squeaked by, elation washed over. But so, too, did the stark reality of comprises made. Tearing up worn carpets and knocking down walls would take years of sweat equity and cash neither currently had after depleting savings just to buy in.
“This house has promise,” Melanie said. “But it’s going to take a lot more work than we realized just to reshape it into something we love.”
Regret No. 3: The Heavy Interest Burden We Now Bear
Melanie and Becca expected challenges breaking into LA’s housing scene. Sky-high prices and cutthroat competition were par for the course in this market, sending many would-be buyers packing. What caught them off guard were the sharp climbs in mortgage rates as 2023 progressed, topping 6% by the time they purchased.
Rising rates meant reworking their budget to account for hundreds more in monthly housing payments, despite already overextending to beat the bidding frenzy. “We ran all the numbers before jumping in. But we felt forced to ignore the signals to slow down in order to finally buy before getting totally priced out,” Melanie noted.
While the couple doesn’t regret becoming homeowners, they do regret acting with urgency rather than caution. Rushing to buy before projected rate hikes meant opting for a higher interest 30-year mortgage. And over three decades, that translates to massive sums flushed away unnecessarily.
“This was supposed to be the start of building equity,” Becca said. “Instead, we put ourselves on a path of just lining the bank’s pockets.”
Regret No. 4: Draining Our Savings To Win a Bidding War
In hopes of finally getting an accepted offer, Melanie and Becca made a risky choice — draining nearly all their savings to make a massive down payment over asking price.
“We pulled out all the stops on this place — going in with a really strong offer and barely any contingencies,” Melanie said. “We wanted desperately to stand out after so many rejections.”
In the high-stakes bidding wars defining LA’s market, large down payments and waived inspection clauses are common tactics. And they often tip the scales for desperate buyers in close contests. But for Melanie and Becca, winning the war took a heavy financial toll.
Forking over 50% down left their safety net almost depleted, eliminating funds set aside for renovations. It also forced them to take out a larger mortgage, upping their recurring housing costs. While necessary to compete, the couple now laments acting so drastically without considering long-term impacts.
“We don’t regret buying this house, but we should have thought more about the tradeoffs before throwing so much cash down,” Becca admitted. “Now we’re house poor until we can rebuild savings.”
Regret No. 5: Losing Sight of What Makes a “Home”
Somewhere between touring listings and number crunching offers, Melanie and Becca lost perspective on their homebuying vision. In getting caught up in the market frenzy, comparisons and fear-based decisions took center stage — not what really constituted their dream home.
“We fixated more about beating competition than thinking about what we truly needed in living space,” Melanie said. “Stuff like storage, flow, outdoor area got overlooked while we rushed just to finally buy.”
Now settled into their fixer-upper, the couple is readjusting expectations around turnaround time and budget. Turns out reshaping a house into a home after the fact comes with more challenges than anticipated.
“This house has good structure — but needs lots of work to make it our own,” Becca said. “We got impatient trying to time the market versus being thoughtful buyers.”
While finally homeowners, Melanie and Becca carry lessons learned from a turbulent journey into their new phase of renovation and rebuilding. Their road to homeownership delivered more pitstops than expected. But they remain hopeful this is just the start of long and happy memories made within walls they can now call entirely their own, regrets and all.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I Bought a Home in 2023: Here Are My 5 Biggest Regrets
