{"id":23780,"date":"2026-04-01T20:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T20:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/budgetadirect.com\/?p=23780"},"modified":"2026-04-01T20:00:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T20:00:25","slug":"it-felt-like-the-biggest-slap-of-buyers-remorse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/budgetadirect.com\/?p=23780","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt felt like the biggest slap of buyer\u2019s remorse\u201d |"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/div>\n

\n Illustration by Clay Laucella\/Bankrate\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Kayla Palmer, 31-year-old Nashville resident, bought a 100-year-old house with her husband in 2018 that turned out to be a money pit. She felt rushed by the real estate agent and misinformed about the house\u2019s structural issues, leading to a series of costly problems after purchase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Setting the scene on homebuying<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Buying a house is full of complex and outright confusing steps for first-time homebuyers. With so much energy going toward pre-purchase steps like getting preapproved for a mortgage, finding a real estate agent and making an offer, the costs and challenges that come after the purchase can come as an unwelcome surprise.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it\u2019s a common experience for new homeowners to feel surprised by routine costs like home maintenance, utility bills and property taxes. Bankrate\u2019s 2025 Hidden Costs of Homeownership Study found the average annual cost of maintaining a home was $21,400. Of course, that\u2019s tacked on top of regular mortgage payments, which for many families is the largest monthly expense in the budget.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n An expert’s take
\n <\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

\n While it\u2019s a good idea to have a rainy day fund to cover unexpected job loss, medical bills or car repairs, Gloria Garc\u00eda Cisneros, CFP\u00ae, also recommends having a home emergency fund. Otherwise, a new refrigerator, roof or plumbing system could leave you in the hole. She says that mortgage approval alone doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re ready for a home \u2014 ideally, you\u2019d build that buffer for unexpected costs before making an offer.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Behind her homebuying experience\u00a0<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe [first] house was kind of like our dream house,\u201d Palmer says. \u201cIt was gorgeous.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as the homebuying process moved along, Palmer felt their real estate agent asked for signatures on unexplained paperwork, couldn\u2019t answer inspection questions and no-showed on their closing day. Although it\u2019s common for buyers to look to their agent for advice and even lender recommendations, she and her husband were left in the dark.<\/p>\n

It took a few months for issues to surface and regret to sink in. Then, \u201cIt felt like the biggest slap of buyer\u2019s remorse,\u201d she admits.<\/p>\n

While living in the newly-purchased home, the couple realized the upstairs level was completely uninsulated and would range from 100 degrees in the summer to 30 degrees in the winter. Pipes came undone, flooding the floor with water. The neighborhood didn\u2019t feel like a good fit.<\/p>\n

A year later, the couple put the home back on the market and got an offer that day. They found a new agent, borrowed from the agent\u2019s recommended lender and purchased a house in a more preferable part of town with a school they like. And in March, they decided to put that house on the market and purchase a third, bigger home to fit their growing family. Palmer and her husband used local mortgage lenders for their first two homes, but they\u2019re working with a builder for a loan to finance their next house \u2014 a new build.<\/p>\n

\n

\n [Buying a home] ends up being one of the biggest financial decisions\u2026in our clients\u2019 lives, just because of the monetary value and how expensive homeownership is.<\/q>
\n
\n \u2014 Gloria Garc\u00eda Cisneros, CFP\u00ae
\n <\/cite>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Her homeownership dream<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Each of Palmer\u2019s homebuying experiences has been a learning curve. She\u2019s learned to look beyond the numbers \u2014 for details like school zones, proximity to highways and the structural integrity of the house. She\u2019s also not persuaded solely by an attractive listing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are looking to buy a house, you should go around your city or your county and know exactly what you want and what you don\u2019t want,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have to look past the cute wallpaper and the cute furniture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their new family home is double the size of their last house, which allows them to grow their family and host extended family members for visits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting inspections done on it. There\u2019s been no red flags. It\u2019s been very easy, a little too easy,\u201d she laughs. Hopefully, this home \u2014 and the cost of maintaining it \u2014 is just the right fit for the Palmers.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n Did you find this page helpful?<\/p>\n
\n
\n

\n Why we ask for feedback<\/strong>
\n Your feedback helps us improve our content and services. It takes less than a minute to
\n complete.\n <\/p>\n

Your responses are anonymous and will only be used for improving our website.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Help us improve our content<\/p>\n

\n