First-Rate Solutions for Second Guesses

Every new home has its nuances. Rather than get mad, get smart with how you deal with them

No matter how much you’ve researched a new location, checked out a house purchase with home professionals and gone over numbers with your mortgage lender or accountant, no home is perfect. That doesn’t mean it can’t work.

Sharon D. Mills, a salesperson with Watson Realty Corp. in Jacksonville, Fla., advises conflicted homeowners to stay put for a few to recoup costs and realize appreciation. “If you sell right away, you’ll probably lose 5 percent to 6 percent of the purchase price,” she says. Instead, consider these alternatives:

Location

Locations can be a miss for many reasons. Since you can’t pick up and move the house, think out of the box, Mills says. “If it involves too long a commute, for instance, you can change your commuting time and leave 30 minutes earlier or later,” she says.

Needs Work

“View your home as a long-term project” Mills says.

Jon Singleton, also with Watson Realty, suggests first making affordable changes that involve paint, new fixtures or one or two appliances, or rearranging furniture to give rooms a different look.

Too Little Square Footage

This problem calls for creativity in how you decorate or use a space. “The good news is that you won’t have as much space to furnish or care for,” says Mills.

Scott Gibson, a broker with Gibson International in the Los Angeles area, recommends using rooms for multiple purposes when space is tight.