We Asked Recent Buyers About the Compromises They Made to Buy a Home — And They All Said the Same Thing

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Shopping for a house is super exciting, but it can also be so confusing. The home-buying process is complicated on its own, and when you add in rising interest rates and higher home prices, it’s hard to know where to start (or if you even should!). It’s also tricky to suss out what’s normal when you’re deep in your own home search, especially if you’re a first-time buyer. 

So, to help you understand exactly what homebuyers are experiencing in the market, Apartment Therapy surveyed 676 of them — some who bought a home in the past 18 months, some currently home shopping — and a selection of real estate professionals in June and July 2024. 

From how much money they needed for a down payment to what they would never compromise on when buying a house, these buyers’ real-life experiences shed light on what it’s like to shop for a home right now.

One of the most important pieces of advice the surveyed homebuyers say they got during their search was to shop within their budget. Of course, this is only possible when you’re realistic with your price parameters. Or, as one prospective buyer was told during their search, “Don’t look at what you can’t afford.”

What do most people think they can manage? About two-thirds of recent buyers (68%) had a budget of less than $500,000, and 34% had a budget of less than $300,000. Even with relatively lower budgets, the majority of these buyers — 71% for those with a budget of less than $500,000 and 69% for those with a budget of less than $300,000 — were able to afford single-family homes. Meanwhile, 17% and 20% bought condos/apartments, with $500,000 and $300,000 budgets, respectively. 

Comparatively, people who are currently home shopping seem to know they’ll need to spend more money than recent buyers did to get what they want — only 60% of prospective buyers have a budget of $500,000 or less, and 32% hope to pay less than $300,000. Experts are noticing this, too. “Cash buyers are mostly unaffected, but the cost of housing has risen dramatically for buyers who are taking out a mortgage,” says Sally Mabadi, president of the Mabadi Group and a real estate broker for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago, who’s based in Evanston, Illinois. 

Single-family homes are still the most popular goal for prospective buyers, but compared with recent buyers, far fewer (41%) think one’s a possibility for less than $500,000 (and only 37% of prospective buyers with less than $300,000 to spend are looking at single-family homes). 

“The increased interest rates have made things much less affordable for buyers, and many buyers can’t afford to buy what they could have two years ago; or, they have to buy a completely different property, such as a condo or townhome,” says Cara Ameer, a bicoastal agent with Coldwell Banker, covering the Southern California and Northeast Florida markets. Of current home shoppers with a budget of less than $500,000, 20% of them are looking at condos/apartments, 15% are interested in townhouses, and 7% are considering tiny homes.

Along with their slightly higher house shopping allowances, prospective buyers (19%) are less willing than recent buyers (25%) to buy a home outside their budget. A good way to avoid joining the over-budget crew is to follow the simple advice Valencia B. in Orange, Virginia, has valued most while home shopping: “Don’t buy more than you need.” 

You know you need to pay a percentage of your home loan as a down payment, and traditional advice dictates that you should put down at least 20% to buy a house. But that’s just not the case for many of the homebuyers we surveyed. The recent buyers we heard from (excluding people who bought their homes outright) put down an average of 17.38%, and almost half (49%) of those buyers spent far less than that, shelling out 10% or less of the purchase price. If that still seems too high for your own budget, you might be happy to know more than a quarter of recent buyers (28%) only put down 5% or less. (Reminder: If you put down less than 20%, you’ll need to pay mortgage insurance.)

For context, here are the cash equivalents of those three down payment amounts for a $412,300 home, which is the median sold price for a home in the United States in the second quarter of 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). 

• A 17% down payment would be $70,091.
• A 10% down payment would be $41,230. 
• A 5% down payment would be $20,615.

But remember, you’re not done writing checks once you’ve got your down payment covered. You’ve still got closing costs, which include lawyer fees, inspection fees, deeds, appraisal fees, title insurance, loan underwriting, and more. 

Surprised to learn about these extras? You’re not alone: Most (80%) of the 32 experts we asked say that homebuyers are least informed about how much money they need in addition to a down payment, while almost a third of recent homebuyers (31%) say they felt underinformed about how much money they needed for expenses like closing costs. 

According to Bankrate, closing costs are usually between 2% and 5% of your total home loan amount. For the $412,300 median home price, that would be between $8,246 and $20,615. 

If you’re reading this now because you’re hoping to buy a home in the future, take your cue from the saving habits of buyers we surveyed and start saving as soon as you can. Recent buyers say they saved for an average of five years for their down payment, and prospective buyers have been saving for an average of 4.63 years. 

Not sure where to start? Most recent and prospective buyers (83%) say they’re using/used some kind of savings account, with 31% opening a new high-yield savings account specifically for their home purchase.    

When looking at potential properties, buyers pay attention most closely to a home’s layout (80%), natural light (68%), and the size of rooms (67%). These focuses make sense since they’re generally super tricky (and expensive) to change up, and nearly half (48%) of prospective buyers are putting away less than $10,000 for work on their homes after they buy — projects like new windows or even a minor room reconfiguration could quickly use up most of that. 

With buyers seemingly wanting to spend less after they move in, they want certain pricier and *convenient* add-ons included: A washer/dryer or a laundry hookup is the top must-have for prospective buyers (77%), while a garage and/or parking space was most important for recent buyers (59%). Washer/dryer hookups can cost up to $2,000 (not including the washer and dryer), according to Angi, and Forbes reports that a single-car detached garage costs $7,200 to build. 

Experts like Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based real estate agent Jess Annabelle like this approach; they note “large-ticket items” as features buyers should pay close attention to when touring a home.

It’d be nice if the homes you toured had everything decorated to your specifications, but buyers and experts warn not to get hung up on smaller fixes. When asked “what cosmetic features shouldn’t matter to buyers,” Annabelle calls out “paint,” and says, “It depends on the buyer; but in general, low-cost and easily changed items.” Respondents also point to wallpaper, flooring, hardware, light fixtures, and finishes. 

One recent buyer says the best advice they got was, “Know your nonnegotiable items, but be flexible on everything else.” And buyers are making sure they know exactly what they want in exchange for their hard-earned money. 

In fact, 100% of recent buyers say they did not concede any of the “immediate disqualifiers” we asked them about on their recent home purchases, including things like needing a lot of updates, being located on a busy street, lacking natural light, and not having a garage/parking or laundry facilities.

Buyers are clear that standing firm on your nonnegotiables is only possible when you take the time to really understand what you must have or absolutely won’t live with. “There were things I thought I didn’t need that over time became big problems,” says recent buyer Christina B. in Phoenix, Arizona. “I wish I had really thought about what I was willing to compromise and what those sacrifices meant to my day-to-day life.”

A nonnegotiable you might not think about is getting an inspection. Only 5% of prospective buyers are considering waiving this to buy a home — but 15% of recent buyers did waive an inspection. The overwhelming advice from buyers and experts is to never give up an inspection to buy a home. “A buyer should never forgo inspections, period,” Ameer says. “It is a very risky proposition, as you don’t know what you don’t know,” she adds. Ameer stresses the importance of hiring a trained professional: “The cracks on the exterior of the home may look like nothing to a buyer, but to an inspector, they may be indicative of a larger and expensive problem,” she says.   

“You can change a lot of things, but you can’t change the neighborhood a house is in,” says homeowner Nikki M. of Portland, Oregon. Many buyers share this sentiment, saying things like, “location over everything else,” and, “location is key.” 

Where you buy your house is a major consideration, but you don’t necessarily need to live by “dream location or bust.” In fact, 21% of recent buyers bought outside their desired neighborhood, and 34% of prospective buyers are considering this. “I wish I had known to be more open to other areas outside my initial searchable area,” one recent buyer says. “I pigeonholed myself at first and got frustrated at the lack of properties available, but when I opened up to other areas, I found a house right away.”

No matter where they’re buying, almost half of current home shoppers (47%) say living in a walkable area is very or extremely important. Meanwhile, 43% of recent buyers say their home is in a walkable area, as defined by being between a 5- and 10-minute walk to the “closest school/grocery store/library/coffee shop/pharmacy/walking path/biking path.” If you up the radius to a 15-minute walk, then 21% more recent buyers also classify their neighborhood as walkable.

If you’re thinking about buying a home in a new-to-you area, buyers recommend you really get to know whatever neighborhood(s) you’re considering — and that means visiting it a lot. A great tip from buyers: Explore prospective neighborhoods during different times and on different days to get a feel for what it would be like to live there 24/7. 

You might be surprised how quickly some people bought their homes. More than one-fifth of recent buyers (21%) found their home in a month or less, and it took 28% of them between two and three months to track down their new property. In fact, the average house search for recent buyers was 7.5 months. 

Current home shoppers are finding it’s taking a little longer, with their ongoing searches averaging 8.6 months at the time of the survey. Prospective buyers are also touring more homes, having looked at an average of 13 properties in that time frame, while recent buyers looked at an average of 10 houses before finding their home.

“I advise my clients to get the most information they can during their property search,” Mabadi says — but 35% of recent homebuyers say they didn’t know the “right questions” to ask about buying a house. Take advice from experts who say homebuyers are missing opportunities to check in about things like issues with the foundation, past water damage, and if it gets really noisy at certain times of the day. 

Interested in a property that’s part of a homeowners association (HOA)? Ameer recommends digging into the state of the HOA. “Investigate any assessments being discussed or pending,” she says. Ameer notes any insurance-based assessments could mean your HOA costs will go up in the future. She also recommends looking at “parking rules and regulations, guest parking, and rules about what you can do [to] the exterior and landscaping.” 

There’s a lot to do and see during a search, but that doesn’t mean you need to make offers on every home you view. Recent buyers averaged two offers in their searches, and the 35% of current home shoppers who’ve submitted offers have made an average of three offers so far. This uptick could indicate a slightly more competitive housing market, or that prospective buyers are putting in more offers that sellers haven’t accepted, but that doesn’t change the advice from surveyed buyers who say to remain patient. And experts stress the importance of doing what’s right for you. Just take this straightforward guidance from real estate agent Jessica Gilmore in Birmingham, Alabama: “Buy when you find the right house that you can afford.”