Buying a new home is an expensive and time-consuming process. It can also be expensive and full of expensive mistakes if you don’t
Not doing your research! A house is an expensive investment, so don’t rush in. Get online, talk to agents, go to auctions, and monitor and review local sale prices in your target area.
Here are ten mistakes to avoid when buying a home.
1. Becoming emotionally attached. Found your dream home on the second day of looking? And it auctions this weekend?
2. Paying too much at auction. Auctions are pressure situations fuelled by emotions. Only attend an auction after doing thorough research of recent sales in the local area, setting yourself a buying limit. If you can’t trust yourself, ask a friend to come with you do your bidding, or engage a buyer’s auction to act on your behalf.
3. Inadequate research. Finding out the price range for home in the area you are interested, current sales and even what homes have been passed in for at auctions. All this information is vital for achieving a reasonable sale price.
4. Failing to negotiate. The seller’s agent is neither your friend nor your advocate.
5. Buying a home you cannot afford. Creating mortgage stress is one way to end up in more and more debt. Don’t do it.
6. Not getting building and pest inspections. Not only are these inspections are excellent negotiation tools, forgoing these inspections leave you with a potential house full of problems and costly repairs, the cost of which you will not able to get off the seller.
7. Not getting pre-approval for finance. Shopping for a new home with a dollar figure of how much you can spend allows you to accurately budget for all costs, including stamp duty and moving costs, and avoiding mortgage stress.
8. Relying on a building and pest inspector provided by the seller’s agent, because any report you do get will never be truly independent.
9. Buying a new home before selling your current home, with the pressure of settlement forcing you to accept any offer you get on your current home.
10.Relying on the advice of the seller’s agent. This person works for the seller. Their job is achieve the maximum sale price for the seller, and they are paid handsomely in commission from the sale price of the home. Take all that they say for what it is – a marketing exercise– and complete your own due diligence checks.
