10 Regrets To Avoid When Buying A Home

Nothing aches more than knowing you could have done better in a certain situation but you didn’t and it’s too late to change it. Hindsight is a great thing but unfortunately we do not have that luxury. Many home buyers make a lot of mistakes that they would have wished to avoid, whether it is because of being overzealous or just naïve. Here we are going to talk about ten common mistakes people make when buying homes and how to save yourself from the agony of such regrets.

#1. Not Having Enough Knowledge About The Real Estate Business

Many home buyers go into the process of buying without having the necessary acumen needed to understand fully the complexity of home buying. This is backed by the results of research conducted by the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) that revealed that 38% of homeowners wish they had a better knowledge of the whole buying process before they went into it.

#2. Too Much Hesistation

Many homeowners now wish they hadn’t dithered on buying a home as early as possible. The reason is they end up paying more money on rent, money that they could otherwise had spent on buying a new home. According to the 2012 TD Canada Trust First Time Home Buyers Report 55% of home buyers wish they had bought a house sooner.

#3. Not Making A Larger Down Payment

Many home buyers also rue the missed opportunity of making a hefty down payment which would have enabled them to save more before getting into a mortgage.

#4. Overlooking Additional Costs

Many homebuyers tend to overlook additional costs associated with acquiring a home like maintenance, renovation etc. and other extra costs like transfer costs and inspection fees.

#4. Not Accounting For Location

Location is arguably the most important aspect of home buying and yet some people still tend to omit that form their decision making process. Many home owners that buy houses and very remote places wish they had bought a house much closer to work and other important places.

#5. Not Exploring More Options

As in any decision making process it really does help when you have a lot of options from which to choose from. Many homeowners wish they hadn’t limited themselves to only few options when they were buying their homes.

#6. Not Vetting Real Estate Agents

Many buyers tend to just venture into buying a home without seeking the advice of real estate agents. Interviewing lots of realtors doesn’t only give you options it also broadens your knowledge and gives you a better insight of real estates.

#7. Using All Your Savings To Buy A House

Many people tend to put all their eggs in a house-shaped basket. Yes buying a home is an important part of your life but it is not your whole life. There are many things you should consider before putting up all your savings to buy a house, like what would happen if you lose your job or other basic necessities like health and food.

#9. Not Inspecting The House Before Buying It

About 15% of homeowners wish they had had their homes inspected before buying. You wouldn’t want to find out your house has a leak when it’s already late.

#10. Not Buying Big

A lot of people tend to go for smaller houses to avoid paying more for bigger ones. Only for them to realize later on that they indeed needed a bigger house. Then they’ll have to search for a bigger house which would incur extra cost, cost they were trying to avoid.

So if you don’t want to be among the Had-I-knowns make sure you pay heed to these common regrets to avoid heartache and agony.