1. Not getting pre-approved with a lender BEFORE looking at homes. Nothing is more disappointing than finding a home you love only to be surprised by today's strict lending codes that you can't qualify to make the purchase. Talk to a lender before you do anything else! It won't cost you anything, and you will be not only informed but armed with a powerful pre-approval letter for making an offer a seller will consider.
2. You should look at as many homes as possible before making an offer. Ok, it rarely happens that the first house you look at is the one you buy. But if it is a house you love in the location you want and the price is right, there is no reason to keep looking and risk losing that house! There is a lot of inventory in today's Asheville area market, but it doesn't mean you have to kiss all the toads to find your prince!
3. The perfect home is out there. Some buyers are so obsessed with finding the perfect home (which doensn't exist) that they pass buy several nearly perfect homes. Try to focus on all the things that are right about a home rather than on the one thing that isn't perfect.
4. The house has to "speak" to you. Actually, I do think that is often, but not always, true. I love it when my buyers walk into a home and immediately says, "wow" or "oh!" Their whole demeanor changes, and I can feel their excitement. I usually am in-tune enough with them and what they are looking for it that I feel it, too, and that is one of the things I love about my job -- I live for that moment! This is why I don't work with investors or do commecial property where there is no emotion or relationship involved. However, the "wow" moment doesn't always happen. Still, I think most people have a instinctual reaction when they find the right place -- if they will just listen to that instinct. Sometimes it is purely analytical in that the house meets most of the needs and criteria, and that is ok, too!
5. Buy as much house as you can get for the money. That is so old school! One of the positive things to come out of the recession and housing bust is a re-thinking of our values. Some people genuinely need a large home, and for various reasons: big family; needing home office, studio, or workshop space; dynamics where each person needs private retreat space. However, for the majority of people, there has been a realization that less can be more and that a smaller home is less expensive to purchase, heat, cool, and maintain. It also has a smaller footprint, both physically and intangibly.
These days, a larger house may be the same list price as a home that is significantly smaller as there is a glut of bigger homes on the market. Keep your needs in mind, as well as the comparative quality and appointments of each home (a LOT of shoddy homes were built during the "boom" years).
6. Why bother with a home inspection? Home inspections aren't perfect. An inspector is limited by what he or she can see: they can't open up walls or floors or move the seller's possessions. But they can give you a professional snapshot of the condtition of the home and advise you about having further inspections on specific things like the HVAC system or the chimney, etc. And every now and then, they spot something that is a deal-breaker, and then that $400 or so spent on the inspection looks pretty good compared with spending hundreds of thousands on a house with major problems. Additionally, a pest inspection and a radon inspection (radon is an issue in Western North Carolina) and a survey should be done.
7. If your offer is accepted right away, you paid too much. No! There are some pretty motivated sellers out there, and some extremely well-priced homes. Each situation is unique, but if you felt comfortable offering the amount for the house to begin with, it was a fair price to you. You don't know what the seller's situtation is, and how willing/able he or she is to take a loss on the house to move on. Just be thrilled that you got the house for what you offered!
8. Waiting to buy! "When you know it has hit the bottom, it is on the way back up." And that is where we are right now with the housing market. This could be the last year (hopefully!) to buy when prices are still at all time lows due to the recession and housing bust and the resulting glut of foreclosures and inventory that has kept inventory up and prices down. You can buy a home in parts of the Asheville area NOW for less than you would have in 2005! Interest rates are still incredibly low (but climbing). So what are you waiting for????
If you have any questions or want to disucss buying a home, contact me here.
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Margaret
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With every sale I make, a contribution is made to at least one of these organizations:
RE/MAX 
