5 Most Common Mistakes Made by First-Time House Buyers

Without any doubt, choosing a new home is quite a stressful process, because of all the factors that need to be taken into consideration. In fact, we can see that a majority of people believe that it is one of the most stressful things they have experienced. One survey says that roughly 40% believe this. You will certainly admit that this is a high percentage.

We can see that one of the biggest factors is that people usually go to another state, where they haven’t been before. To illustrate this claim, we can see that a majority of seniors dream about buying a house in Florida or Hawaii, to spend their retirement there. But that doesn’t mean that younger people don’t have the same tendencies. All of these factors can be tied to a concept named “the American Dream”.

With so much going on, it is not uncommon to see people who decide to consult some kind of guide. If you are interested in taking a look at one of these, be sure to check landmarkmortgagecapital.com. Now, we would like to present you, our readers, with a couple of common mistakes people make when buying a new home for the first time. Without further ado, let’s see what we’ve gathered.

1. Not Focusing on a Mortgage

Source: investopedia.com

Since people are eager to start looking for a new place they will call home, it is easy to overlook the mortgage. It needs to be said that not having a mortgage as some kind of priority can be described as a really big mistake. Plus, we can see that certain markets are quite competitive because the buyer demand is much bigger than inventory.

Therefore, those who didn’t prepare mortgages can expect to be overlooked quite easily. Besides, you cannot buy something before you know how much money you have at your disposal, right? So, before you even think about buying a certain property, make sure that you have completed the financial aspect. By securing a loan first, the rest of the process will be as smooth as it needs to be.

2. Spending the Whole Budget

Naturally, the worth of your loan has the aim of securing the future buy. Sometimes, people make the mistake of spending their whole budget on a property. But, it needs to be said that you are not obligated to do that. In fact, we can see that this is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Why is that? Well, spending every dollar you have on the property means that you will not have enough funds to invest in the interior.

Also, the property you have bought doesn’t have to be the place where you will live for the rest of your life. So, it is quite easy to miscalculate how much you will be able to get on a resale value. Therefore, you need to have a proper calculation about every aspect of the property. In some cases, hiring a financial expert who can provide you with some quality insights is an absolute must for a majority of people.

3. Skipping the Home Inspection

Source: forbes.com

If you want to do things right, the first thing you need to think about when buying a new home is conducting a house inspection. Only by doing that you will know what are the areas that require additional investment. Once again, it is recommended to bring a professional with you, who can do this in the best possible way. Sometimes, you will see that there is a lot of things you need to repair.

If that is the case, maybe you will be able to knock down the price quite a bit, who knows? If you don’t perform a home inspection, chances are that you will need to spend much more money in the future. In case you have come this far, these are unnecessary expenses you certainly didn’t have in mind when you bought the property in the first place.

4. Buying Home with a Debt

Despite all the known dangers, we can see that it is not uncommon for people to buy a property with already having some kind of debt. Certainly, we are talking about a big problem. By having more to spend than you can earn, you will not be able to finance all of these monthly payments. Without any doubt, this can cause the loss of the property in the long term.

Instead, you should have careful planning, which will provide you with a chance to be extra careful about all the aspects. One of the commonest debts people have is a student loan, which can go on for more than a decade. So, be sure that you have settled all your debts, and only then, you should start thinking about purchasing a new home. You can overcome these problems by having an emergency fund.

5. Not Considering Additional Costs

Source: bystored.com

Probably the biggest problem first-time home buyers overlook is that they don’t consider additional costs as a big deal. Sure, every buyer is aware of the price and some other costs. But many of them don’t think about other aspects, like the closing costs. They are equally as important as any other. Therefore, take all of these into consideration before you are ready to make the decision.

Some of the costs we would like to point out are attorney fees, loan origination fee, prepaid interest, title search fees, etc. Sure, these costs vary from case to case. Roughly, they can go between 2% and 5%. By minimizing all of these costs, you will have the chance to have a much better deal for yourself. Certainly, it wouldn’t hurt you to hire a financial professional who can help you on this journey.

The Bottom Line

As we’ve said, this can be a stressful time for many people. Therefore, having an insight into the commonest mistakes can give you peace of mind. Not only that you can handle them much better, but you also have the chance of overcoming them completely. Here, you can take a look at some of the commonest ones.