Basics of home-buying, from the horse’s mouth!
Experience holds count on what you perform next. The first experience of buying a house is always tedious and especially when you don’t do a thorough research of the market. I bought a house few years ago, and yes I too made a lot of mistakes pre and post my purchase. What’s worse is that I kept doing the same mistakes for yet another year or so.
From my encounter of buying a house I learnt a few basic lessons. Although I was fortunate enough to not make any disastrous mistakes, they still remain mistakes that are not negligible.
Adjust your home search parameters:
Be willing to adjust your search parameters when property pickings are slim. If you tweak your price range little upward, lot of options may open up. But, if the market is strong, there can be situations where you may not be able to bring the seller down or you may see the house getting sold for more than it is listed for.
If you are not able to find a house within the price range you have set, look for houses slightly below your price range. This might give you a lot of options to select from and will give you room to adjust to the strength of the market.
So be open to tweak the price range both upward and downward.
Control your emotions:
Buying your first home can be an exciting experience. But one should think wise before making their purchase. You should not make
an offer unless and until you are excited about the home – be it in its existing condition, and also do not get excited until you have got the property under your contract.
Do a thorough investigation:
As you are a first time home buyer you may have less or no experience of the market. So, do your due diligence. Stop and see. Listen carefully. Even if you have done the inspections and read all the reports, there might be areas where you have still doubts. Don’t shy away; stop and ask the agent wherever you have doubts, after all it’s your home.
Benefit from your agent’s expertise:
Buying a home is not an easy task. It is one of the biggest investments you will be making in your life time. However, working with a real estate agent is not like working with any other salesperson. A real estate agent is a person who knows his industry inside-out. So make use of your agent’s insight and expertise for things that you are not well aware of. Be careful while you choose your agent. It is very simple, if you don’t trust your agent, its time you find another one.
Have an idea about what you want and don’t want:
Purchasing a house is the single biggest investment most of us will ever make in a life time. So have a clear vision of your life in your new home. Be sure what you want and don’t want while making a deal. For e.g. the features you want in your house, the amenities, the neighbourhood, the street you are going to live in, etc.
Hope my experience helps you in your home buying endeavors. Happy home shopping!
