Property And Mental Health

Like falling in love, deciding to buy a new home’s a blast.  It reboots your life, so that every detail of your daily routine feels fresh and exciting once more. And from the moment you set eyes on ‘the one’, that new home fills your every spare moment with fantasy party plans, Pinterest pages and colour pallets, as you style out your new life from the comfort of your tub.

Posted on Monday, May 9, 2022

Property And Mental Health

You’ll come to know that Setting Plaster is an actual colour and the thickness of a stud wall is 5 inches in old money. You won’t understand why your colleagues glaze over when you share your latest fabric swatches. And your partner won’t understand why an embroidered kaftan (to wear as you walk down your new stairs) is suddenly an essential item. 

It’s just a shame about the bit in between falling in love with the property and the fantasy party, isn’t it? 

That pesky 3 months of nail-biting, suspicion and bouts of ‘oh my god what the hell am I actually doing?’ which, as we all know, is no joke when you’re in it.

Buying and selling property is littered with potential stress triggers. 

From simply sharing your financial information with your Solicitor, to the timing of the exchange of contracts, often via a chain of people and circumstances entirely beyond your control, but which have a critical bearing on your life. And often while your own circumstances add extra moving parts to the mix.

In therapy, anxiety is sometimes referred to as: ‘fear of the unknown. An impending sense of uncertainty, or a stress response to a perceived threat in the future’. 

It would be unrealistic for the team at Estates East to promise that we can remove the stress completely from selling and buying property. But we can promise that we recognise the feelings of stress and anxiety, and we genuinely care about minimising their impact on our clients.  And that process begins at the point of valuation, when all eyes light up with possibility.

Watching a client’s response to a generously high valuation on their home is an easy way for an estate agent to win the room, and the client. But if that valuation is unrealistic it can set off a trail of events, in which anxiety will reign for all parties.

Property by definition is something we own, it’s probably our greatest capital and the temptation, naturally, is to get the most money possible in return for it. But at what cost? 

While smart advice based on current market insight, may create less of a ‘wow’ moment, it could mean the difference between anxiously not going anywhere, and everyone happily moving forward.

These are the kinds of considerations a good estate agent will take the time to understand before advising you.

What can YOU do to minimise stress?

Look at the road ahead and identify potential stressors.

List them and consider, in reality: what’s the worst that can happen? Then plan for it. You probably won’t need to look at that list ever again, but facing it will prepare you and give you a better sense of control.

Look after yourself 

Take care of the basics: get enough sleep, eat well and regularly, and walk or cycle every day or dance in the kitchen—anything that generates a daily blast of endorphins. 

Keep an open channel of communication with your agent

Connectivity is key. There’s a specialist dedicated to every stage of your sale and purchase at Estates East, pick up the phone and talk to them. 

If you wake up with the jitters about something, we might be able to help immediately.

Remember to breathe

Pause and let new information ‘land’ before you react or make a decision about it. You are in control. We will never put pressure on you to act quickly. We’ll never say “it’s now or never”, and no agent ever should. 

Breathe, call us, and we’ll tackle it together.

When we sell your home. We are on Team YOU. All the way.

Estates East Connect is our commitment to behaving like human beings even though we’re estate agents! And here’s what it’ll mean for you.

  • Your plan, alone, sets the agenda. Our focus is to make it happen

  • We’ll be straight with you, open and realistic

  • We’ll minimise stress by being available, returning your calls and listening 

  • Give calm, informed advice, providing you with a clear picture at every stage

  • Work like the clappers to clear any blockers

Selling and buying your property doesn’t have to mean entering a world of stress and anxiety. The same exciting results can be achieved, with good communication and most important: the people involved kept at the heart of the process.

Now, what colour Kaftan were you thinking?

Estates East Team

Call us >> 020 8520 9300

Follow us >> @estateseast

Find your dream home >> estateseast.co.uk