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Mistakes to Avoid as a First Time Home Buyer

Buying your first home can be one of the most exciting experiences of your adult life. But if you aren’t careful, it can also turn out to be one of the worst experiences in your life. Here are some of the most common mistakes inexperienced homebuyers make and ways to avoid them.

Mistake: Thinking that buying a foreclosure is always going to be a great deal.

Buying a foreclosed home at a great bargain is often more difficult than it seems. Usually, buyers experienced with foreclosures are the ones able to get the best deals. A first-time homebuyer stands at a real disadvantage. Typically, a foreclosed home has been vacant for several months before it is put on the market. During that time, vandals can steal the pipes and wires, drag off the cabinets and appliances, or squat in the home. Animals can burrow into the house, eating holes in walls, chewing on wires and spreading their feces.  Wind, rain, and snow can cause structural problems. Leaving a house empty for an extended period of time is a recipe for disrepair. Experienced buyers know this and know what to look for. They also know how much to estimate repairs will cost. First time homebuyers have none of this knowledge.   

Unlike a normal house purchase, the foreclosure process does not generally allow for an inspection. As a result, buyers have to guess at repair costs based on the outside appearance, the age, and the time left vacant. If you want to avoid making a major financial mistake and still purchase a foreclosure, speak to someone knowledgeable with foreclosures and get an idea of common problems.  Then estimate the cost to make these repairs and decide if it’s still a good financial move.

Mistake: Not understanding the actual costs of owning a home.

As a first time home buyer, you might think that as long as you can afford the mortgage payments, you can afford that home. But this is simply not true. A mortgage payment is just one of many home ownership costs. Property taxes and homeowner’s insurance should factor into your cost equation. Maintenance and repairs are also something to consider because your home will definitely need repairs and upkeep regardless of how new it is.

Several of these costs can sometimes be rolled into your mortgage payment. But it is important to consider all of these costs in addition to the mortgage payment so you can decide how much home you can actually afford to buy.

Mistake: Failing to get a professional inspection.

Getting a home inspection is an important part about buying a new home, but many inexperienced home buyers simply take the seller’s word that there is nothing wrong with the house. A seller often isn’t under any obligation to tell you about the mold in the basement, or the leak in the roof, or anything else that may affect the sale of the home. In most cases, the seller’s agent will hire a home inspector to inspect the home before the sale. But this can be a conflict of interest since they are being paid by the seller.

To avoid this mistake and to save you from huge problems in the near future, hire an independent home inspector. These inspections often only cost a few hundred dollars but they can save a buyer thousands of dollars – or even in rare cases hundreds of thousands of dollars - if they find something major that needs to be repaired. Most home sales are based on a contingency of the results of the home inspection so you can either opt out of the purchase or ask the seller to make the repairs if you aren’t comfortable with the results of the inspection. Often, home inspections pay for themselves.  Sellers will often reduce the purchase price as compensation for problems discovered during an inspection.

These are some of the more common and financially costly mistakes that first time home buyers and even some experienced home buyers make. But by educating yourself on the common mistakes, you can avoid them yourself sleepless nights and a lot of money when buying your home.