subject: 10 Tips To Avoid Home Buying Mistakes [print this page] Although there are smart real estate investments, there are also some bad decisions that could be made. This article contains important tips that may prevent you from buying a home above its value or from losing money.
Pre-foreclosure properties can be a worthwhile investment. If you find that you have a lot of time to put into finding a property that you can invest in, pre-foreclosure homes might be something that you want to consider. Those properties in pre-foreclosure are at risk of being taken from the owners because of delinquency. Many lenders are willing to give you a list of these homes. Alternatively, advertising that you are willing to pay cash for homes may work as well. However you find owners of pre-foreclosures, find out what the owner owes, and make an offer that is a couple thousand dollars above that amount. You can sometimes benefit greatly by this method, particularly if the payoff is much lower than market value.
Be sure that any appraiser you are planning on hiring has had several years of experience in real estate. Hire an appraiser independent of any real estate office. You want to avoid any conflict of interest. Any appraiser you do hire needs to have a state license and/or be state certified.
A house that is close to a busy road should be avoided if possible. While these homes are cheaper, there's a cause for the lower price. You may be just fine with all the noise, but you will find your home hard to sell later.
Take the plunge and buy that home you are dreaming of. The conventional wisdom is that since the housing bubble has popped, selling and buying a bigger home is not economical, but some experts disagree with this thinking. Conventional wisdom tends to indicate that housing prices will inevitably rise once again, so it may be wise to grab that dream house now.
Talk to real estate investors, it may be surprising how friendly or useful their advice is. Properties are always available, but not every one makes a great match for each investor. It's a great method to find a diamond in the rough that others haven't found.
If you are buying a home, it can be a great idea to bring along someone else to look at the house with you, particularly a person who has bought a home before. This is great, because there is a chance they notice problems you haven't. Make sure they are asking the realtor questions too.
When you are trying to work out a deal, you should first make a priority list on your goals. Think through the questions that will need to be settled and firmly set what you want in these. Your priorities are dictated by how strong your expectations are for a given issue. Remember, during the negotiation process you need to be a little bit flexible and you should expect to make some compromises.
Do a little investigative work of your own by measuring the home before you purchase. You should personally confirm that the given square footage matches both the actual house and what is listed in public records. If the numbers are not within 100 sq. feet, find out why there is a discrepancy; you may need to reconsider buying the home.
When you are trying to make a deal on real estate, do it moderately. Often, people who are too aggressive about trying to make the best possible deal work against their own best interests. Instead, offer a fair market price and let your Realtor do the negotiating.
Research real estate properties well before buying them. There are several important factors to consider when purchasing rental property. The first one being sustainability. How solid is the property? Is age a factor and will it sustain a long life cheaply? Secondly, where is the property located? Where the property is located should be a critical part of your decision, because it will be for your tenants. You want to have a rental property located near centers of activity, such as popular retailers, restaurants and other service providers for your future tenants. Another key factor to consider is what the average rental income for similar properties in the area. This is different from physical location, because you should keep in mind that a high rent area is definitely a better location than a low rent area. When the property is in a high rent area, location is not the same level of concern as it is for a lower rent area.
It is very easy to make a bad decision when buying a home. Use these suggestions to find out what you need to do to find the best deals in housing markets. All that's left for you to do is capitalize!
