When it comes to buying, people like to have a lot of choices. You want to see more than one bag or pair of shoes before settling on one, right? In purchasing a home, it’s no different. You like to drop by several properties before you put down the offer. Having choices is good, but what most buyers don’t know is that it can also be bad. All too often, the abundance of options can make deciding really tough. Especially when the choices are all favorable. A renowned psychologist called this phenomenon the ‘paradox of choice.’
In small purchases, like bags or shoes, your indecision may not be that costly, since you can always find one at some other store or mall. But in the case of home buying, there’s no place for indecision. If you get trapped in the paradox of choice, you might miss out on a really good home in a nice neighbourhood, turn off a seller, or end up with a house you regret. If you want to avoid this paradox of choice, you need to do these things:
Find your magic number.
The main reason people get this urge to see a lot of houses before settling is they feel like they’re depriving themselves of other good homes that they might like. That’s valid, of course. But you need to change your perspective of ‘the other good homes’. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a lot. The number doesn’t have to mean too many. It just has to be enough. A good enough number, in which you feel like you’re not missing out on anything, and at the same time, making the decision later easier. Consult your real estate agent about just how many is good enough. Often though, professionals recommend seeing 6-8.
Filter out options as you go along.
As soon as you visit a home, go decide already whether it should be kept in your options or not. Otherwise, you’ll be piling up options after weekends of open houses, not only making it tough to decide, but also to remember which ones you like and don’t like. Make it a habit then to give the house you saw a ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ stamp. Now, the only way you can do this quickly, with a rational, sensible mind is to refer to the needs and wants checklist you should have come up with way before hitting the property market. If one of your priorities is a nice suburban community, you may want to view the houses for sale in West Melbourne.
Favor the ‘just right’ home.
In other instances, the reason you feel like you need to see a lot more houses is because the ones you saw don’t exactly meet your checklist. And the thing is, it’s virtually impossible to find a home that fits all your requirements. You need to make some compromises, eventually. That is, of course, on the wants items. Once you make those sacrifices, learn to settle. Be ready to make that offer. Accept the reality of passing up on all the other viable options on the market. Unless of course, you want to stay in the market for long, never moving in, but ever wandering restless. Would you really like that?
Avoiding the Paradox of Choice
Choices are good. But remember, they can make decisions a lot tougher than they’re supposed to be. Avoid the paradox of choice by taking note of these smart home-buying habits.
