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M REPORT | 49 O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST DATA Buyer's Remorse Overpaying and high taxes rank among homeowner's biggest regrets. A ccording to the experts at Flyhomes, a vast majority of Americans experience a far less fairytale experience than they expected when on the quest of purchasing their dream homes. Flyhomes surveyed 1,000 Ameri - cans to discover some of their top regrets amid the home buying experience. The survey results revealed that more than half of those home - buyers surveyed (56% exactly) admitted to making some real compromises that varied (some significantly) from their initial, ideal must-have lists for their home. Among these responders, one-third admitted that the house they finally did end up buy - ing did not match up with their initial criteria at all. Reality versus expectation proved disappointing, clearly, and apart from disappointment in the final house itself, respondents also voiced how stressful the entire home purchasing process was overall. Many of those respond - ing (58%) admitted that the stress level was much higher than they had expected, catching many off guard. Also unexpected? The price tags. Among first-time homebuy - ers, 40% mentioned that their new abode's final cost was far higher than they initially had in mind. Among those respondents who paid this much higher than the expected price tag, they revealed that the final difference in cost was their shelling out an average of $20,000 more than previously planned when all was said and done. Worse than that, 14% of respondents reported spending, even more, claiming that they spent more than $50,000 over their initial budgets. Besides the unexpected (and unwelcome) surprises along the way, survey respondents also revealed their biggest regrets from the homebuying journey, with nearly 25% of all respondents admitting they did indeed have numerous ones. Among those regrets most mentioned included the aforementioned overpaying on the final price tag; purchasing a home that required far too many (and often expensive) repairs; sky- high tax prices accompanying the property; smaller size property (including fewer rooms) than they'd hoped for; too much main - tenance and upkeep required; and less than ideal location. Among first-time homebuyers, 40% mentioned that their new abode's final cost was far higher than they initially had in mind.