The Emotions of Buying a Home For the First Time

Recently I had a very interesting discussion with another personal finance blogger about the emotions of buying a home.

Both of us bought our first house in the past decade and so we had a thoughtful exchange about our experiences.

While I bought my home for the sole purpose of having a shelter, Corinne bought hers to build a real estate investment portfolio. This in turn helped her to quit her stressful 6-figure job and become a full-time business owner. Check out her full story here.

Meanwhile, I focused on paying off the mortgage early to become debt-free.

This prompted me to reflect on the overwhelming and emotional journey of buying a home for the first time.

And it went something like this…

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The Emotional Roller Coaster of Buying a Home

It Starts Off Slowly

Your heart is racing. You want to get that loan pre-approved so that you can jumpstart the home search, but it’s taking forever.

You need to get all your paperworks ready including your previous pay check stubs and bank statements to prove that you have sufficient cash flow and funds to buy a home.

And so the train is moving slowly upwards in an agonizing motion. You feel both excited and anxious, but mostly anxious.

Then You Get a Bit Dizzy

You went to multiple banks to get a quote. You finally got a pre-approved offer that fits your needs, but all these payment terms confuse you.

“Do you want a fixed rate or an ARM?” asked your banker. “And would that be 15, 20, or 30 year?” he continues, “Which area are you looking into buying and what type of housing are you trying to get?”

You were bombarded by many questions in which you didn’t have the answers to, yet.

“Here’s the loan amount you’re pre-approved for. You have 60 days until this letter expires,” he finally concluded matter-of-factly.

And so with a mortgage pre-approval letter in hand, you went to your real estate agent.

Boy, you’re starting to feel a bit woozy!

So You Had a Peak

You’re getting closer to the top and you can’t help but have a little peak of the view. It’s looking nice but you’re also nervous to take the plunge.

You went into your real estate agent’s office and she shows you her MLS of homes in the area you’ve chosen.

It’s looking good. You booked a few appointments to visit some of these houses.

And Here Comes the Drop

You went to five houses in a matter of two weeks. The first few were interesting, but as you got to the fifth one your emotions start to shape from excitement to feeling nauseous and dizzy.

You got a bit discouraged as some of your offers got rejected. You hung onto the handle bar – there’s no turning back now.

Your real estate agent advises you to bid up the price since you still have some room to go in your loan.

Your excitement began to sink as you’re now worried about what’s ahead.

There Goes the Ups and Downs

Some days are better than the others as you brace for new impacts.

A few of the houses you saw awhile back is now off the market. You felt defeated and sad.

But miraculously, one of the houses came back onto the market and so you asked your agent to submit the offer right away.

You’re now in a waiting period but you’re not sure if you should be excited too soon.

Alas, You’re Now Enjoying the Ride

The offer came back without a counter-offer. You begin the inspection process and move into escrow.

Things are going smoothly now and you began to imagine yourself living in that house.

You’ve really come to enjoy this ride.

And Then It’s Over

Stacks of papers are now signed and you’ve just gotten the keys to the house.

You feel as if a whole mountain was lifted off of your shoulders.

You can’t contain your excitement as you pack your belongings and give the house a make-over.

The ride has come to a full stop – you’re now officially a homeowner. Whoohoo!

If you want to read more about my homeownership experience, check out this interview on MyJearney.com.

Creating this blog has opened up so many opportunities for me to meet other bloggers online. I really enjoyed sharing our experiences and learning from each other.

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