It takes bravery to put yourself out there and lay everything on the line, especially when the risk being taken is deeply personal. But often we lose sight of this and get caught up in self-doubt after submitting an offer on a property and things don’t go to plan.
Buying a property, especially when it’s one you plan to live in, is a deeply personal and emotional journey for most property buyers. If you’re lucky you might manage to nab your dream property on your very first attempt, but for most it rarely happens that way.
Feelings of excitement, hope and opportunity can come crashing down in an instant when you put your best offer forward on a property only to find out it has been rejected. And why wouldn’t they. Let’s face it you had probably already mentally moved in.
Like any challenging experience though, if dealt with and handled well it can be used for your betterment rather than detriment and even help to make better decisions down the track.
How To Cope When Your Offer Is Rejected
If you submit an offer on a property that gets rejected and you’re struggling to bounce back, keep challenging yourself to focus on these three key things.
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Reflect on the experience
If you’ve had an offer turned down ask for feedback from the selling agent on why. Was it price, settlement terms or something else? Once you have this information do some soul searching and ask yourself if you had your time over again would you do anything differently? If the answer is no then pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on.
If the answer is yes, then you need to delve a little deeper. Could you have made a higher offer but didn’t? What stopped you? Were you not so sure what the property was worth? Could you have been more flexible with settlement terms that worked in with the seller? Whatever it might have been, make sure you consider those lessons learned when you find your next property.
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Review your brief
Quite often when I’m working on a client brief the original remit changes along the way. It’s not because the client changes their mind to any great extent, it’s just that the more properties we look at the more we are able to hone in on what’s most important to them.
The way we do this is by re-evaluating their wants, needs and budget. I demand honest feedback from my clients on what they like and don’t like about a property, both for mine and their own best interests. A simple yes or no doesn’t cut it.
Why? Because when you are very clear on what you want, it becomes blatantly obvious why you want a property when you find the right one and you will pursue it with purpose.
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Redirect your efforts
We all know one plus two equals three. It’s also no coincidence these three points have been written in the order they are in. If someone has said no to your offer, you have deliberated over what you could have done differently and then scrutinised the relevance of your brief, it’s time to take action.
That action needs to start right away and take the form of a) you staying the original course or b) changing direction if need be. It has to be one or the other. Otherwise, you will risk making mistakes or bad judgement calls that will potentially see you on a never ending property search.
How To Bounce Back
The key thing is not to dwell on the disappointment for long. If you find yourself going over the same old ground maybe take a short break from your search for a week or two to clear your head and get some perspective.
Don’t sit on the side lines for too long though as you might miss out on an even better opportunity if another property comes up. Or even worse, you might feel rushed playing catch up after stepping away for a few weeks and make a bad decision.
Speaking from years of experience buying property, my advice is to hang in there. I’ve never had a client regret their ultimate purchase even if they missed out on one or two along the way.
If you found this article helpful perhaps you might also like How to Negotiate the Best Property Price.
Are you struggling with the property buying process? Why not drop me a line here. I love talking property.
Shelley Horton is the founder of Sydney based exclusive buyers agency Albion Avenue. With a 20 year career honing her skills in every aspect of the property industry Shelley knows what makes a property worth buying and how to get the best deal.
