86% of Recent Home Buyers Had a Stressful Experience. 4 Tips for a Better One

Here's how to embark on a home search with less aggravation.

Buying a home can be a harrowing experience even in the easiest of real estate markets. But in today's pandemic housing market, it's a difficult thing to do.

Housing inventory has been extremely limited since the pandemic began. At the same time, mortgage rates fell to record lows in 2020 and have remained competitive ever since. That's driven a surge in buyer demand that's resulted in higher home prices -- and a tough road for buyers.

In a recent HomeAdvisor survey, 86% of people who purchased a home during the pandemic found it was a stressful experience. If you're a prospective buyer, here are four steps you can take to make the process easier on yourself.

1. Know your price limit in advance

Because home values are so inflated right now, it's easy to go overboard when buying a home, putting your finances at risk as a result. Before you start your search for a home, use a mortgage calculator to figure out how much you can afford to spend on housing every month.

Keep in mind that it's best to limit your predictable housing expenses, including your mortgage payment, property taxes, and homeowners insurance, to 30% or less of your take-home pay. Going above this threshold could cause you to fall behind on either your housing payments or other bills -- or both.

2. Find a great real estate agent to work with

Teaming up with a savvy, experienced real estate agent could make today's housing market easier to navigate. Get recommendations from friends, neighbors, and anyone else who might be in a position to steer you toward the right agent. You'll especially want to look out for a real estate professional who knows your target market well.

3. Get a mortgage pre-approval letter

It may be the case that you do manage to find a home you want to buy that fits into your budget, only you're one of several buyers vying for it. If that's the case, you could easily get stuck in a bidding war -- and lose out on that ideal home.

That's why it's a great idea to obtain a mortgage pre-approval letter before looking at homes. If you come in with that letter in hand, it could sway a seller to accept your offer over another, since that letter is an indication that you're a serious home buyer whose finances have already been looked at.

4. Have realistic expectations

While it may be possible to snag a bargain home in a normal housing market, these days, there are few "deals" to be had. Rather, you should expect to pay a premium for any home you buy, and you should also anticipate having to compromise on certain items on your wish list. If you approach your house-hunting with these expectations, it could minimize the stress you encounter along the way.

Buying a home these days is not an easy thing to do -- even if you happen to have a healthy budget to work with. Employ these four tips to make the process less daunting from start to finish.