You are ready to start house hunting! It’s exciting! It’s fun! Your dreaming (maybe day dreaming) about the future and how your family would look in every house you look at. But there are a few common mistakes that most first time home buyers make. Simplify your process by avoiding them.
#1 Guessing about your payment
If you don’t know what you can actually afford to spend on a monthly basis, then you can’t really figure out what purchase price you should be looking at. There’s more to a house than just the mortgage payment. Add in taxes, insurance and all your regular expenses and you’ll have a much better idea of what nut you need to crack.
#2 Find out what you’re qualified for
You’ll avoid a lot of stress by looking for something that the bank thinks you can afford. Just because you can make the payment, the lending institution has their own rules about what they’ll lend to people with different credit scores and employment histories.
#3 Make a budget
You need to complete step one – making a budget by finding out what you are spending on everything in a month’s time. Then you need to put in an amount for unplanned expenses and repairs.
#4 Making a dream list
Make a list of items that you are looking for in a house, in a certain area and in a certain time frame. We all want a 5,000 sq. ft. house in a great neighborhood for $600 a month. That is probably not realistic. Figure out what things you HAVE to have and what you can live without.
#5 Use your rose colored glasses
Try and look beyond the paint and the horrible carpet when you see a house. Many cosmetic items can be changed relatively inexpensively and can really freshen the look of your home. Not to mention that you’ll get a better deal when it seems less desirable to others.
#6 Get what you really want
If you really don’t want a yard, don’t buy a property that’s a good deal and on an acre. You’re setting yourself up for problems. If you want to have room for your pets and kids, don’t consider a condo or home that is really too small for your needs, or one that will be in the next year or so. You’ll end up moving sooner than you think.
If you are going into the home buying process for the first time, it is important to educate yourself. Many people have been burned in a real estate deal because they believed in one of these myths. The most important thing is to hire a reputable agent. Contact one of our agents today at Lake Havasu City Properties , they will have access to all listings and will get you the best deal whether you are buying or selling your home.