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Are you gearing up to buy your first place? Shopping for a home is exciting, exhausting and a little bit scary. In the end, your aim is to end up with a home you love at a price you can afford. Sounds simple enough, right? Unfortunately, many people make mistakes the prevent them from achieving this simple dream. Arm yourself with these tips to get the most out of your purchase and avoid making 10 of the most costly mistakes that could put a hold on that sold sign.

1. Not Knowing What You Can Afford As we've all learned from the subprime mortgage mess, what the bank says you can afford and what you know you can afford or are comfortable with paying are not necessarily the same. If you don't already have a budget, make a list of all your monthly expenses (excluding rent), including vehicle costs, student loan payments, credit card payments, groceries, health insurance, retirement savings and so on. Don't forget major expenses that only occur once a year, like any insurance premiums you pay annually or annual vacations. Subtract this total from your take-home pay and you'll know how much you can spend on your new home each month. If you end up looking at homes that are outside your price range, you'll end up lusting after something you can't afford, which can put you in the dangerous position of trying to stretch beyond your means financially or cause you to feel unsatisfied with what you actually can afford. You may even learn that you can't afford the type or size of home that you desire and that you need to work on reducing your monthly expenses and/or increasing your income before you even start looking.

2. Skipping Mortgage Qualification What you think you can afford and what the bank is willing to lend you may not match up, especially if you have poor credit or unstable income, so make sure to get pre-approved for a loan before placing an offer on a home. If you don't, you'll be wasting the seller's time, the seller's agent's time, and your agent's time if you sign a contract and then discover later that the bank won't lend you what you need, or that it's only willing to give you a mortgage that you find unacceptable. Be aware that even if you have been pre-approved for a mortgage, your loan can fall through at the last minute if you do something to alter your credit score, like finance a car purchase. If you cause the deal to fall through, you may have to forfeit the several thousand dollars that you put up when you went under contract.

3. Failing to Consider Additional Expenses Once you're a homeowner, you'll have additional expenses on top of your monthly payment. Unlike when you were a renter, you'll be responsible for paying property taxes, insuring your home against disasters and making any repairs the house needs (which will occasionally include expensive items like a new roof or a new furnace). If you're interested in purchasing a condo, you'll have to pay maintenance costs monthly regardless of whether anything needs fixing because you'll be part of a homeowner's association, which collects a couple hundred dollars a month from the owners of each unit in the building in the form of condominium fees.

4. Being Too Picky Go ahead and put everything you can think of on your new home wish list, but don't be so inflexible that you end up continuing to rent for significantly longer than you really want to. First-time homebuyers often have to compromise on something because their funds are limited. You may have to live on a busy street, accept outdated decor, make some repairs to the home, or forgo that extra bedroom. Of course, you can always choose to continue renting until you can afford everything on your list - you'll just have to decide how important it is for you to become a homeowner now rather than in a couple of years.

5. Lacking Vision Even if you can't afford to replace the hideous wallpaper in the bathroom now, it might be worth it to live with the ugliness for a while in exchange for getting into a house you can afford. If the home otherwise meets your needs in terms of the big things that are difficult to change, such as location and size, don't let physical imperfections turn you away. Besides, doing home upgrades yourself, even when you have to hire a contractor, is often cheaper than paying the increased home value to a seller who has already done the work for you.

6. Being Swept Away Minor upgrades and cosmetic fixes are inexpensive tricks are a seller's dream for playing on your emotions and eliciting a much higher price tag. Sellers may pay $2,000 for minimal upgrades or staging that you'll end up paying $40,000 for. If you're on a budget, look for homes whose full potential has yet to be realized. Also, first-time homebuyers should always look for a house they can add value to, as this ensures a bump in equity to help you up the property ladder.

7. Compromising on the Important Things Don't get a two-bedroom home when you know you're planning to have kids and will want three bedrooms. By the same token, don't buy a condo just because it's cheaper when one of the main reasons you're over apartment life is because you hate sharing walls with neighbors. It's true that you'll probably have to make some compromises to be able to afford your first home, but don't make a compromise that will be a major strain.

8. Neglecting to Inspect It's tempting to think that you're a homeowner the moment you go into escrow, but not so fast - before you close on the sale, you need to know what kind of shape the house is in. You don't want to get stuck with a money pit or with the headache of performing a lot of unexpected repairs. Keeping your feelings in check until you have a full picture of the house's physical condition and the soundness of your potential investment will help you avoid making a serious financial mistake.

9. Not Choosing to Hire an Agent or Using the Seller's Agent Once you're seriously shopping for a home, don't walk into an open house without having an agent (or at least being prepared to throw out a name of someone you're supposedly working with). Agents are held to the ethical rule that they must act in both the seller and the buyer parties' best interests, but you can see how that might not work in your best interest if you start dealing with a seller's agent before contacting one of your own.

10. Not Thinking About the Future It's impossible to perfectly predict the future of your chosen neighborhood, but paying attention to the information that is available to you now can help you avoid unpleasant surprises down the road. Some questions you should ask about your prospective property include:

* What kind of development plans are in the works for your neighborhood in the future?

* Is your street likely to become a major street or a popular rush-hour shortcut?

* Will a highway be built in your backyard in five years?

* What are the zoning laws in your area?

* If there is a lot of undeveloped land? What is likely to get built there?

* Have home values in the neighborhood been declining?

If you're happy with the answers to these questions, then your house's location can keep its rose-colored luster. Buying a first home can seem stressful and overwhelming, and it isn't without its share of potential pitfalls. If you're aware of those issues ahead of time, you can protect yourself from costly mistakes and shop with confidence. For many people, a home is the largest purchase they will ever make, but it need not be the most difficult.

Original article by Amy Fontinelle, August 3, 2010, Investopedia.com

The S&B Real Estate Team assists people in buying and selling real estate throughout Southwest Washington. We are proud members of Keller Williams Realty – Premier Partners in downtown Vancouver. Our local expertise covers: Vancouver, Battle Ground, Camas, Washougal, Brush Prairie, Hockinson, Ridgefield, Woodland and La Center. If you or someone you know is considering living or investing in Clark County, please contact us. Jamie Carroll can be reached at 360-609-6775. Steve Borwieck can be reached at 360-241-7305. Or drop us a note on the “Contact Us” page at www.sbreteam.com. We are here to help!

Negotiating a Contract with a Builder ~ To Be Built Homes vs. Inventory Homes

This market has certainly given buyers the upper hand when it comes to negotiating a contract with owners of re-sale houses or with builders of residential houses.  As a buyer's agent, the negotiating strategy may end up being different depending on if you are looking at re-sale homes or at new built homes or even a bit more different when looking at to be built homes. 

Seller Mindset for Re-sale vs. New Construction

The owners of a re-sale will definitely consider the amount of equity that they have in their home.  The amount of equity is an important factor to determine the purchase price that the owners can afford to accept.  The sellers may also need to clear a certain amount of money so that they will be able to purchase their next property.

For a new construction builder, the sales price will need to equal the material & land cost, marketing cost (usually 5-6%), overhead, plus any builder profit.  A typical profit for a builder is around 8%.  In this market, builders are not producing the huge profits that most buyers think they are making.  If all of the builder's costs are set, the only room they will have to negotiate is off of their profit margin.  I have heard a few builder representatives in and around Charlotte mention that they are doing "market deals"...I take this to mean that they are willing to accept a lower percentage in profit to sell the property. 

Negotiating Strategy when Dealing with To Be Built vs. Inventory Homes

If you are looking at To Be Built Homes, know that the builder may not negotiate as much off of the price.  The price that they have offered to you will already be adjusted to fit what is comparable in today's real estate market.  In this scenario you will have better luck focusing on the incentive money that the builders are offering.  The builders will put a markup on the upgrades and options that they offer to the buyers with incentive money.  If the builder gives you more incentive money, this will not affect his bottom line as much as a price reduction.  Plus the higher price will help to keep the values in the neighborhood higher.

If you are looking at Builder Inventory Homes, then you should have more luck getting the builder to accept a lower offer.  Builders have a set overhead cost (the amount that it cost them to hold the property on the market) and if the property has been sitting for a while they may have run through the amount they set aside for carrying the house.  Every day that the house is on the market is eating into their profit so they may accept a low offer.  Putting in a low ball offer may not be your best move.  Instead you may want to ask the builder to come back and customize your house, or add a deck/screened porch, or to do extra landscaping.  The builder will want to work with you on this because it will help to keep the values in the neighborhood up and in the long run will help both you as buyer and the builder.