Self-Care for Buying Your First Home

According to the 2017 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 34 percent of home buyers were first-time buyers and the median household income for first time buyers was $75,000. It also found, 53 percent of all home buyers undertook a home improvement project within three months of purchasing their home and they typically spent $4,550 on those improvement projects.

Home buyers have a lot of work on their hands—from the financing and house hunting process to the renovation and improvement projects. If this is your first go at home ownership, the work, responsibility, and stress might seem overwhelming. There are so many things to consider when buying your home.

Instead of biting your nails, pulling out your hair, or any other stress-induced habit that might emerge; take some time to practice self-care. Relax and enjoy the ride, buying your first home is one of the most exciting and rewarding financial decisions you’ll make in your life. This article will discuss the ups and downs of buying your first home, and provide some tips for taking care of yourself during this time. Let’s jump in!

Purchasing Your First Home
The process of buying a house is stressful, especially your first home. Not only are there financial documents to pour over and heavy decisions to weigh, there’s the stress of making offers on your dream home and then closing the deal or losing out to a higher offer. A general overview of the steps to homeownership include:

Determining if you’re ready to buy a home.
Shopping mortgage options.
Getting approved for a mortgage.
Finding an agent.
Finding the perfect home.
Making an offer.
Closing the deal.
Managing your mortgage.

An eight-step process might look simple, but there are a lot of things that can go wrong in the homebuying process:

The home inspection could reveal damage.
Sellers can be difficult to work with and unwilling to budge on their asking price.
Your agent might not meet your expectations.
You didn’t account for extra fees like closing costs and taxes.

While purchasing your first home can be stressful, it’s also an exciting experience and can be a rewarding investment.To ensure your home buying journey is a pleasant one, let’s cover some self-care tips to help you relax.

Self-Care Tips for the Home-Buying Process
Small acts of self-care that you probably already do all day, like basic hygiene, getting enough sleep, and drinking water, are vital to your health. But when you’re going through something extra daunting, you should carve out some extra time in your life for self-care. Here are some tips:

When you’re feeling overwhelmed by the home buying process, stop and focus on something other than your impending mortgage: go to a movie, read a book, or spend some time doing your favorite hobby.
If you’re feeling out-of-the-loop and uneasy about the purchase, sit down with your agent and ask as many questions as you need to clear things up. You deserve to clearly understand every aspect of this process.
Counselors are now using music in therapy to help patients relax. So put on your favorite album and enjoy an afternoon dancing or just relaxing away your worries.
Unplug from all of your devices and go technology free for a day. Better yet, head into the wilderness for a nature hike or a day at the lake.
Fill up a bubble bath, light a candle, and grab your favorite book for some “me time.”

There’s a lot to worry about when you’re buying your first home, but your first priority should be your personal health and the happiness of your family. A new home is never more important than that, so remember to take moments to care for yourself when you need it.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao