Basic Mistakes To Prevent When Purchasing Your First Home
August 14, 2010 by William Mason
Filed under Mortgage
It’s exciting to take that first step to purchasing a home and no longer paying rent. This experience is new and scary as often most people don’t know what they are getting themselves into, let alone know what they are doing when planning for their dream home.
When emotions get involved in buying high-priced purchases, decisions are rushed and buying mistakes can happen. When buying a home for the first time, there are some common mistakes that are made by first time buyers.
Slip up number one is not really having a clear idea of what you want. To avoid this you should have an explicit list of features you desire so you can be ruthlessly precise.
Another mistake first time home buyers make is they don’t take time to figure out their financial situation. It’s always a great idea to figure out how much you can afford for payments each month so you can buy within your means. Making this mistake can lead to other mistakes, eventually digging you in a hole that could lead you into foreclosure.
Even though financially you may afford a home, don’t purchase it at face value. This type of thinking may make you undervalue the true costs of purchasing a home. For your monthly budget, you need to make room for property taxes, utility costs, mortgage payments, insurance, and repairs among other expenses.
Before you shop for a home, make sure you are pre-approved for a mortgage. If you don’t get pre-approved beforehand, you’ll just waste the agent and your time. You also don’t want to do things that could cause your loan application to fall through.
Buying a home for the first time without the help of an agent is also another mistake. Letting the agent do the negotiations for you will help in hiding your excitement, as letting your feelings show will lead to a high price.
Finally, you should always get a professional in to give your house the once over before your sign up. This will ensure that you will not face unexpected costs later on.
This writer takes pleasure in contributing information regarding New York real estate subjects, such as East Village apartments as well as Lincoln Center apartments.
