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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 Homeownership Costs a 'Rude Awakening' for Some Buyers Nearly two-thirds of millennial homebuyers are reporting some regrets after the purchase of their new home. A new report from Bankrate has found that more and more millennials are experi- encing homebuyers remorse after purchasing what was thought to be that home of their dreams. The study found that nearly two-thirds of millennial homebuy- ers have expressed some degree of regret. The survey found that the older the buyer, the less likely they were to have misgivings about their purchase after the fact. In all, 64% of millennial homebuy- ers (ages 25-40) have some regrets about their purchase, compared to just 33% of baby boomer buyers (ages 57-75). In an ever-tightening market, many homebuyers are jumping into situations that are less than ideal, as the study found home- buyer regrets primarily fell into two major categories, financial and physical. One of the biggest regrets among recent homebuyers was not being prepared for mainte- nance and other costs associated with homeownership. More than 20% of millennial homeown- ers said they felt the costs of homeownership were too high, and that number jumped to 26% among younger millennials, ages 25-31. "It can cause a rude awakening if one fails to plan for inevitable expenses," said Mark Hamrick, Bankrate's Senior Economic Analyst. "This is yet another reminder why making emergency savings a top priority is so impor- tant. Whether it is a roof repair stemming from age or storm dam- age, or the need to fix or replace heating, cooling or appliances, it isn't a question whether such ex- penses arise, only when and how much they will cost." Millennials also felt they didn't get a good mortgage rate, or that they overpaid for property, as 12% of millennials said their rates were too high, and 13% said they agreed to overpay for their home. While financial frustrations topped the list of regrets for new homebuyers, many millennial respondents felt their new place was not an ideal fit, with 15% of those polled said they disliked their new property's location, and 30% felt the home was not the right size. Many cite the competitive market leaving very little time to make a sound judgement on a new home, forcing buyers into quick decisions. "Because the market is so competitive, you have less time to make a decision on a homebuy- ing purchase than you do on a laptop at Best Buy," said Angelica Olmsted, an Agent with RE/ MAX Professionals Cherry Creek in Denver. "You've already had, possibly, a couple of offers not accepted, you feel that pressure to make a decision and put an offer in. That is an insane amount of time to have to look at a property, see if you can live there, see if you like the neighborhood, see if a house has all the features you're interested in. If you have 15 minutes to look at it, then trying to drive around the neighborhood at different times of the night and day to see if you want to live there, you don't have time to do that adequate amount of home- work." to 53 days in February, and down to 51 days in March. A recent Zillow survey found that a majority of millennials (59%) said they would be at least some- what confident making an offer on a home they toured virtually, while 39% would be comfortable buying a home online. The same survey found that more want digital tools available during the home shopping process. "It's clear that strong de- mand from the next generation of buyers will keep real estate technology in place long after the pandemic is over," Zillow SVP of Product Matt Daimler said. "Digital tools rapidly adopted dur- ing the pandemic not only make home shopping safer, they make it faster and easier." Additional findings by the ICE Borrower and Lender Insights Survey included: • Nearly nine in 10 lenders (86%) said borrowers should spend less than 30 minutes filling out a loan application, but 68% of borrowers said they actually spent 30 minutes or more com- pleting their application. • The majority of lenders (72%) felt borrowers were satisfied with the amount of communi- cation from them. More than half of lenders (74.8%) said they contacted borrowers at least once per week to update them on the status of their loan after the application was filed. • If they were to apply for a new mortgage within the next year, borrowers would most appreci- ate interacting with their lender through an equal blend of tradi- tional and digital methods (26%), closely followed by interactions that have a more traditional focus (e.g., telephone) (25%), and purely traditional interactions (e.g., in-person) (24%). • Homeowners who used an online application appreciated the simpler application process (55%), reduced time to close (53%), and fewer in-person inter- actions (49%)—a significant rise due to the pandemic. In 2018, only 37% of consumers cited 'No need to meet in person' as something they liked about their online application process.