Totally Over Open Homes? Five Tips for Staying Motivated

By Kirsty O’Hara

Anyone currently house hunting probably knows this feeling well. Crowded open homes, paperwork, tender deadlines, completing due diligence—it can feel like a part-time job!

Tempting as it can be to accept burnout, and reclaim your Sundays for leisurely brunching, we instead urge you to arm yourself with the following friendly tips and push on.

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1)There are more fish in the sea. Remember that “homes are like buses: you might miss one, but another will be along soon”. This gem was shared with us by a commercial real estate agent during what felt like marathon journey of house hunting. It helped to keep this in mind when we missed out at tender.

2) Find someone who can help you stay relentlessly positive. It might be your partner(providing you don’t reach open home burnout at the same time). It could be your parents or friend. Or it may be a supportive financial advice expert, urging you to own at least one property (as property is considered an essential investment, given it moves at the rate of inflation). Regardless of who your house buying cheerleader is, they are all going to say the same thing: “Keep going. You’ll get a property soon.”

3) Choose to feel grateful. Sometimes you’re going to uncover something off-putting about a property during due diligence. This can be frustrating, but you’ll be pleased you discovered a lemon before purchasing. When this happens, see if you can think of the due diligence costs you are paying for as educational lessons. Chances are the next property you visit that has similar issues will quickly be struck off your list, and you can move on quickly to the next listing/s. Keeping a small list of these items to watch out for on future properties can be a good idea.

4)Missed out?Work out what is tripping you up. It may take a few weeks ora few months to become realistic about what you can afford right now within your current budget. Or even if you are shopping in the right price point, you may find that you’re up against 20+ offers and only one lucky winner can collect the keys. The good thing about actively offering on properties week-to-week is you end up with a solid understanding of the property prices in your area of choice. You learn the local market. You can track the sales. And, if you’re like myself and many of our clients, you can keep an Excel spreadsheet of what other similar properties you’ve visited or offered on have sold for. Online websites like homes.co.nz and oneroof.co.nz are both great resources to track recent sales. Knowledge is power. Keep going.

5)    Remember, that open homes can be an opportunity to make friends. When we purchased our first home, we found we ran into the same familiar faces at all the regular weekend open homes for that suburb. It makes sense that you might be a similar age and stage to other house hunters also doing the rounds on the same properties. So, tight as the competition may be, give them a smile and you may find that months from now you’ll get a BBQ invitation (yes, this actually happened).

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Happy house hunting!

These are some general thoughts, before you make any decisions you should talk through your specific family situations with an adviser from VFL and also potentially your families other professionals -ie lawyers and accountants -to come up with the best solution for your specific situation.

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