Finding a home is kind of like getting married.
When you make the right choice, life can be heavenly. But if you choose the wrong person, everything in life gets a little bit harder.
For most of us, our homes are the biggest purchases that we will ever make.
But when you’re looking at a six or seven-figure purchase, there are a lot of seemingly unimportant details that can trip you up like a rope on a running trail.
The good news is that we’re about to help you avoid that “Oh my gosh I’ve forgotten something.” feeling with a shortlist of 4 home-buying mistakes that you should avoid at all costs.
All you have to do is keep reading.
Mistake #1: Not Getting a Sense of How Much House You Can Afford
If you live with other people, and even if you don’t, the idea of having a mansion so big that all your guests can have their wing has a certain kind of appeal.
But at the same time, buying the biggest house that you can afford comes with at least one major risk:
You could find yourself house-rich and cash-poor.
Sure, there are a lot of people who struggle to make ends meet from paycheck to paycheck for years on end, but being one pay cut away from losing everything makes it hard to plan for your future.
That’s why it’s important to think very seriously about how much house you can really afford before you start touring homes.
Mistake #2: Skipping the Inspection Report
A few years back, NBC reported that as many as 10% of homebuyers were purchasing their homes while skipping the inspection.
In a hot real estate market, it’s easy to see why things like this happen. But even if you’re not in a situation where every minute of deliberation is just giving other buyers a chance to snag the property out from under you, it’s possible to be up against time restraints that are forcing you to move quickly.
However, there’s one major problem with taking this approach:
At the end of the day, you really, really don’t want to be the person who buys a house and then finds out later that there was a termite infestation.
Home inspection reports make it possible for you to avoid being met with these sorts of unpleasant surprises.
Mistake #3: Picking the Wrong Neighborhood
You may be thinking “But if I like the house and I love the layout, should I even care about the neighborhood?”
But the truth is that a right house, wrong neighborhood situation can come back to haunt you in at least two ways:
First, because problems with the neighborhood that impact property values in a bad way can hurt your ability to resell later down the line. And second, because if living in your neighborhood means that you’re away from the school system or making shockingly long commutes for food or work, that can have a long-term impact on your quality of life.
At the end of the day, understanding how the features of a neighborhood may affect your property can make it a lot easier to decide if a house makes sense for you in the long run.
Mistake #4: Not Speaking to Multiple Lenders
Between the real estate agent, the lawyers, and the multiple listings that show up online every day, crossing “Find a mortgage provider” off of your to-do list can relieve a lot of pressure.
But while using the bank you’ve always had accounts with maybe the path of least resistance, the truth is that when you’ve got two or three decades of payments ahead of you, even an extra $50 or $60 a month in interest payments can cost you a lot of money.
The Federal Reserve made headlines when they slashed interest rates back in 2020 and many homebuyers are shopping specifically because interest rates may not be so low in the future. If that’s you, or even if it isn’t, it’s important to make sure that you’re getting the best deal on your mortgage possible.
You may have to spend some time preparing your finances and working on your credit in order to bring those offered rates down. But in the end, you’ll be glad you did it.
Use These Tips to Avoid Common Home-Buying Pitfalls
Buying a home can be a long and complicated process in part because you’ve got a lot of factors that you need to weigh and consider. We’ve just laid out some of the seemingly small mistakes that can cost aspiring homeowners a lot of time and money. If you go into your home-buying process armed with this information, however, you’ll be well on your way to a smoother and more seamless home purchase.
If you’re interested in purchasing a residential home in Central Florida, please contact Mike Rance at MikeRanceRealtorCFL@gmail.com.
To see residential home listings in Central Florida, please visit Central Florida Homes.
Mike Rance
RE/MAX 200 Realty in Winter Park, Florida
E: MikeRanceRealtorCFL@gmail.com
P: 407-629-6330 ext. 255
Info: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10bwpudQGJpgAtowiFx3fs4YfabZRcGhf8NSQXg89g1E/edit?usp=sharing
Courtesy of: Jane Milburn Finance Writer & Blogger
Mike Rance, Realtor 