The Things They Never Tell You About Buying a House
Buying a home is far from simple when you’re doing it for the first time, but it is made even harder by the many things that no one ever tells you about buying a house.
So, in a bid to help you find your dream home in Florida, I’ve put together a list of some of the things they never tell you, but should when you’re on the road to home ownership, including tips on florida homes for sale.
You Don’t Pay the Realtor
When you’re trying to work out exactly how much money you’ll need for the down payment before you can get your home loan and things like that, it would be pretty useful to know that it is the seller, not you who pays the real estate agent. Once you know this, you can better nail down your finances, and you can be on the lookout for realtors who try to convince you to buy a more expensive house because if you do, they’ll get a bigger commission. Why does no one ever tell you this?
People Will Try to Rip You Off
It’s sad, but not everyone is honest, especially when it comes to the high stakes that are normal when completing a property deal. They’ll try to convince you to buy a more expensive house than you need or try to disguise the fact that their home is infested with mold or struggling with subsidence, which means you will need to have your wits about you and you will need to make use of professionals who can inspect any properties you are interested in before buying – this is not optional.
Short Sales are Anything But
When you see a property listed as a short sale, it doesn’t, like many first time buyers think, mean that the sake will be a quick one – it actually means that the home is being sold short of its value, which can actually be a good thing. However, if you make the mistake of thinking it’s the best option for you because you’ll be able to move in quickly, you will be disappointed when it’s six months down the line, and you’re still waiting for the process to be complete.
Competition is Brutal
When it comes to buying the perfect home, many people leave morals and etiquette at the door and that almost certainly means that, even when your offer has been accepted, you’ll get a phone call from the realtor telling you that you’ve been beaten out by someone offering more money – usually a cash buyer who can move faster. It will bum you out, but at least if you know it’s likely to happen in advance, it might not crush you quite so much. Of course, it’ll also mean that when you finally do have an offer accepted, you’ll struggle to believe it until the process is completed. No one ever said buying a house was easy!
It’s Hard to Find the Right Mortgage Lender
Unless you’re lucky enough to have a big bundle of cash to hand, you’re probably going to need to make use of a home loan to buy your dream property, which is all well and good, except there are a mind-boggling number of mortgage lenders available and choosing between them can be exceptionally difficult. You might be tempted to throw your hands up in the air and vow to just go with the first company you find, but if you do that you could end up paying way more than you really need to in interest, so you absolutely must do your homework, create a shortlist and compare interest rates until you’re absolutely sure that you’ve made the right choice. –Furthermore, if you have ad credit you may find yourself struggling to find a mortgage lender. However, there are many bad credit Mortgage advisors who can help you find a mortgage plan which works for you. Get Me My Mortgage has a network of brokers that can help for all sorts of unique circumstances.
Mortgages are Sold on Regularly
Despite the fact that you will have spent a considerable amount of time choosing the perfect mortgage lender to meet your needs, it is not unusual to find a short amount of time after signing on the dotted line, that your home loan has been sold on to another lender! Luckily, the terms usually say the same, and it is unlikely to affect you very much day to day – it is very annoying though.
The Closing Costs Will Take You by Surprise
It doesn’t matter how well prepared you to think you are; you will hear yourself shouting “I owe what? How much is that?” when you are told what the closing costs on your deal will be.
You’ll be Inundated with Junk Mail
I have no idea how it happens, but when you buy your first home, you somehow find your way onto a mailing list for new homeowners, and you will then proceed to be inundated with all kinds of junk mail purporting to be important. When you open it, you will find that it is nothing more than a poor sales pitch directed at persuading you, as a newbie to this whole owning a home thing that you need to buy this or protect that. Most of this mail can be safely ignored, and your home won’t crumble around you.
You, Will, Have to Do a Lot of DIY
If you’ve been renting up until this point, you will be used to calling out the landlord whenever the boiler is having problems, the roof is leaking, or a vital appliance needs replacing. Now that you own your own home, you can’t simply call someone else to handle your problems – well you could, but it would get pretty expensive pretty fast. Obviously, you’ll need to call in professional help when it comes to serious issues such as electrical problems, but if you don’t want to be bankrupt and you don’t want your home to be dilapidated, you’re going to have to learn DIY like now. It’s the only way to keep costs down!
You, Will, Become a Decorzilla
We’ve all heard of bridezilla’s, but the demon that possesses women who are soon to be wed is nothing in comparison to the demon that takes over new homeowners who suddenly become absolutely obsessed with spending every penny of their hard-earned cash on soft furnishings, paint, and other possessions. This is natural – you’re excited, and you want your home to look nice – but it could end up bankrupting you, so be sensible, resolve to fix the biggest issues first and know that you have all the time in the world to get your home looking how you would like.
Now that you know, I hope you are better prepared for the joys and pains of first-time homeownership!
What's Your Reaction?
