Real Estate Remorse…

As with any big purchase or sale in our lives, there is a tendency for remorse to grab us shortly after the decision is made. In real estate this can be sellers remorse or buyer remorse or both on the same transaction. The reaction is the same, no mater which side you are on. The “Oh, my God, what have I done?” feeling that sets in about 24-48 hours after the euphoria of reaching agreement on a deal. It’s then that the doubts surface and fears take hold. What if I paid too much? What if I sold for too little? What if I move in and don’t really like it? Where will I go now that I’ve sold?

Those are all quite natural fears or doubts that we all have and sometime they can be overpowering for buyers or sellers. I’ve seen this reaction to a sale from both sides of the deal. I actually had a buyer back out of a transaction well after all of the normal hurdles had been cleared – she accepted the house “as is”, even after the inspection turned up several defects that would be costly to fix later (it was a foreclosed house). She also was approved for her mortgage, although she got a bit surprised by the closing costs that her mortgage rep finally showed her. In the end she just could no longer justify the cost and expenses that she was facing and backed out. In that case she lost her earnest money deposit.

I’ve also had sellers get remorse after accepting offers and progressing through the process of inspections and appraisals. Sellers who try to back out of deals face the very real probability of being sued by the buyers and that can be much more expensive than just losing an earnest money deposit. While courts have been loath to force the would be sellers out of their homes, they have awarded the jilted buyers quite hefty damages and usually also make the seller pay the real estate commissions that would have been paid on the defunct deal. Judgments can run in the 10s of thousands of dollars. Sellers with cold feet need to really consider that before backing out of a deal.

The home buying process is an emotional roller coaster for both sides, with highs and lows occurring at various times between the time an offer is made and accepted and the actual closing. Part of a Realtor’s job is to try anticipating and managing those emotional highs and lows through education and counseling. Sometimes we just have to let the emotions play out and continue to give what reassurance that we can that the correct decisions have been made. It can be a gut-wrenching ride for the Realtor, too; but I have no remorse about being in the business and having to take on these issues, too.