the most common mistakes that home buyers make

Buying a house is a type of investing, so the common mistakes of investing also apply to real estate. In my opinion, the most common mistakes that home buyers make are these:

• Selecting a House Emotionally. Purchasing a home is one of the biggest financial decisions that you’ll make, you don’t want to simply “fall in love” with the views or a feature in your kitchen, you want to examine it from all angles.
• Over Leveraging. Houses at the top of your range will almost always look better than homes at the bottom of it. Push that budget a little further still, and the homes keep getting nicer. Don’t get so star struck by a beautiful home that you end up putting yourself in a risky financial situation.
• Not Shopping Around (and being picky) for Important Pieces of the Deal. Your agent, your mortgage rates, your home inspector - these are things that can save you thousands of dollars and/or avoid costly mistakes.
• Not Planning in Advance. Think you’ll be buying a home next year? Fix your credit now to put yourself into contention for better rates that will save you money for a lifetime. Research what homes have sold for recently on Zillow, so you’ll have a better idea of what to offer and what’s a “good deal.” Look at the Crime Map to see what areas you’d feel comfortable in. There are so many things to do in advance that can help you when the time comes.
• Making Surface Decisions. Awkward spaces can seem beautiful with staging, and beautiful spaces can seem horrifying with a messy home owner. Dig beneath the grit and block out the beauty..to try to capture if the real space will work for you. Falling for pretty paint and decorating is a rookie mistake…and ruling out because of superficial flaws - ugly paint color, bad furniture, etc could cost you a gorgeous home at a steal.
• Not Considering Non-Mortgage Home Expenses when Shopping. There are places where property taxes can be as much as your mortgage, or looking at type of heating closely (ex: oil vs. gas vs. electric) might save you a fortune. First time buyers often are so excited about the possibility of a home, that they miss some of these important added expenses.
• Unrealistic Expectations. Often first time buyers want their home to look like an HGTV model home, and don’t understand why they can’t have granite counters, stainless appliances, etc..and all their dream features off the bat for the price they can afford.