Buying a home is learning experience, especially for first time homebuyers. Because the learning curve is so steep when buyers first enter the real estate market, there are a lot mistakes that homebuyers often make.
Some are big and some are small, but all of them can prevent you from enjoying what should be an amazing experience. Sure, there is some stress that goes along with purchasing a home, but this should be a big step in your life that you enjoy taking.
So, don’t make it any worse on yourself by making these first-time homebuyer mistakes.
You’re Searching on Too Many Websites
The Internet is an amazing tool to use to search for a home, but buyers must beware of many of the real estate websites out there.
It’s not that they aren’t trustworthy, but many websites like Zillow and Homefinder don’t have the most accurate information displayed on them. We can’t tell you how many times we have had a person approach us about a house that they love on Zillow only to have us look into it and discover that it was sold months ago.
Many of these websites just don’t update that often. If you work for a real estate agent, they can give you access to the San Diego MLS, which displays real-time information on home listings. The MLS updates about every 15 minutes and can give you many more details about a house and it’s history.
You’re Using Online Mortgage Calculators
Back to the real estate websites. Many, if not all of these websites have a handy mortgage calculator right there for you to figure out your monthly payments. The problem with these calculators is that they are rarely ever right. You can use 10 different calculators on 10 different websites and you will likely get 10 different results.
The only way to find out how much you can afford to pay per month is to see a mortgage lender and become pre-approved for a loan. The last thing you want to do is have a real estate agent begin showing you houses that cost 300,000 dollars only to find out you can only afford a home that is 220,000 dollars.
You Stick With a Bad Real Estate Agent
A lot of people go with the first real estate agent that they meet and stick with them no matter what. But there are many signs that a you’re working with a bad real estate agent, and if you notice any red flags during the home buying process, you should back out immediately.
Posted by Jason Coriano on
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