H Mag - The Handy Mag for Home, Hardware and Home DIY Jun. 2014 | Page 11

11 6. Forgetting About Operational Costs It sounds simple: You’re the owner now, so you need to heat and cool the home, clean it, maintain it, cut the lawn, perhaps trim the trees. But with all the other costs associated with closing the deal on the house and paying for the home loan, it can be easy to forget that these costs are going to be your responsibility from here on out. This is another reminder not to blow all your money on the cost of the home. 7. Skipping the Home Inspection An experienced and certified inspector is worth every penny. I don’t care how experienced a DIYer you are, there are things you’re going to miss when you look the home over. And it’s especially easy for you to miss something because you’ve got a lot on your mind as you consider the home. A home inspector has only one thing on his or her mind, and that is to perform a thorough mechanical investigation with a clear and experienced eye. Besides that, inspectors know the region and sometimes even the neighbourhood. They’re great at spotting telltale signs that you might miss, such as that low area in the lawn that signals where there was (or might still be) a buried oil tank. 8. Not Using a Buyer’s Agent Speaking of getting somebody knowledgeable on your side, it’s great to have a buyer’s agent because they represent only your interests, as opposed to a real estate agent and brokerage that represents the seller and attempts to find buyers for the property. (Real estate sales agents and the brokerages they work for are contractually obligated to the seller—their commission is paid for out of the home’s sale.) There are real estate agents and brokerages that do double duty with homebuyers and sellers. There are also exclusive buyer agents, who only represent buyers and never sell real estate. Either type of representation can work. 9. Diving Into Remodeling Take the home for a test drive and live in it for at least several months to one year—don’t dump loads of cash into a remodel right away. For one thing, waiting will give you a clearer picture of what you can tolerate and what you really do need to fix. Second, living with the home for a while will show how much you can afford to spend on remodeling now that you’re paying a home loan, operational costs, and so on. People frequently overestimate how much they can spend to repair or remodel a home, so beware. 10. Hoping to Cash In Sure, everybody would like to make a killing by buying an inexpensive house in the little town that’s on its way to becoming the next Great Place to Live. First-time homebuyers would do well to play it safe and shop conservatively. Look at the town’s past and carefully consider its future, even if you’re only thinking five or 10 years ahead. Given that home ownership has become a riskier proposition than it once was, your best bet is almost always a town with a solid past and a solid present. It’s likely that it will be a solid place in the future.