'FOMO Took Over.' Some Buyers Who Caved to a Hot Housing Market Now Regret It
FOMO is a powerful thing — sometimes powerful enough to spur a life-changing decision like buying a house, selling a property or refinancing a mortgage.
It sounds crazy, but in today’s red-hot housing market, Fear Of Missing Out is a real influencer.
Just take Sabrina Beaumont, the chief marketing officer for Passion Plans, a floor plan design company based in California. Beaumont had been looking “half-heartedly” for a house for almost two years, but when the pandemic hit and her friends started buying homes left and right, she decided to get off the sidelines and take action.
“I will admit that FOMO took over for me,” says Beaumont. “It really set in when my best friend bought her house.”
Beaumont quickly found herself up against steep competition. While she ultimately found and bought a property, she says buying at such a hot time cost her $30,000 and about 400 square feet.
“I should have bought one of the houses I looked at in the past, and now I regret not doing it,” she says. “I ended up getting into a bidding war and bought a house that was smaller and more expensive than ones I had previously looked at. I feel stupid about the situation.”
Feverish home sales and a fear of missing out
Housing inventory is currently at record-setting lows, and it’s made buying a home more competitive than ever. According to real estate brokerage Redfin, nearly three-quarters of all offers faced bidding wars in April. Even scarier? The average home is selling in just 18 days — the quickest pace ever recorded.
