Learn how to make decisions with real estate, overcome real estate regrets and stop feeling anxious about buying or selling. There are a lot of people stressing about real estate right now. Should they buy? Should they sell? Should they invest? With real estate at all time highs in many cities, it’s causing stressful decisions to be made. I’m not talking about affordability. Obviously, if you can’t afford it, don’t stretch yourself beyond your means. I was talking with someone who was stressing about money. In this case, not because they had too little. She couldn’t decide the right time to sell her house and lock in gains. They weren’t ready to sell it, but were afraid the real estate market would crash. People with a little or a lot of money get stressed. No one is immune! Everyone wants to make the right financial decisions. For some it’s taking the right job, deciding to start a business, having enough money to survive or maybe how not to lose their money. There is a lot of anxiety around real estate right now. Should you buy a fixer upper or not? It’s a major investment. Should you downsize and move to another home? In this case, the woman was worrying about when to sell her house and maximize her gains. Living life is more important than selling at the absolute top of the market. She was feeling torn between trying to make the right financial decision and making the right life decision. Life has to win out! You can’t run your life putting money first or you will be miserable. Your happiness matters. I recently met another woman who sold her house in Canada. She sold it for $600k and it went on to be worth over $1 million. The next time I saw her she was trying to buy back into the Canadian market at a higher price. She had a lot of regret about selling her home too early and it was making her want to capture the gains of the past, but that is impossible. She was making herself sick because of the gains she missed out on making. You make the best choices you can. Fear is not a good reason to make a financial decision. At first she was afraid of loss, now she’s afraid of missing out or FOMO. Either way, her fearful thinking is not serving her. Where was the right place for them to live? What city did they want to retire in? They sold and moved away for a reason, did that change due to home prices rising? What can you do to avoid real estate regret? Here are 5 tips to help you avoid financial regrets: 1. Live in the present moment. Don’t stress about the future or the past. You can’t change the past. In the future, your circumstances available to make decisions will change, so how can you make the decision today when you don’t have all the information? Living in the present moment will help you stay out of fear. 2. Put your health and happiness first. What is going to be the best decision for your families’ health and happiness? 3. Money is a tool for you to use, don’t let money use you. Don’t put money before health, happiness, etc. When you’re in a job that makes you miserable, you won’t be as successful as if you love what you do. Try to connect with your happiness and purpose. 4. Try not to stress about future decisions. Realize that when the time is right, you will make the right decision. You will have more information to make the right decision. Trust. 5. Create a plan. Life is dynamic and things change constantly. There is no way to control it. You can’t freeze real estate prices until you are ready to move. Accept it. Make the best decisions you can and go with the flow. If you make a bad decision, try to move forward and plan for the long term. Short-term thinking can get you in trouble. Long-term thinking is having a plan and working your plan.