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Your first time home buying mistakes?

WiseUp216

WiseUp216

Platinum Member
We're starting our preapproval process in the next week or two and I'm looking for some real world data. What better place than ATOT?

What do you wish you knew before you bought your first home?

Any horror stories?
 
Not really a mistake but ours was a new built and was not aware that gutters and grass and A/C was not included in the price.
 
Upgrades inside the home are easier to do (in terms of not having to pay additional property taxes for an appraisal over) than the ones outside and tend to add more value to the home later.

Go for as big a garage as you can find. Look either for a half car extension or a full car extension over the amount of vehicles you have.

If you want a pool, buy a house with a pool. Don't put one in later. You'll never recoup the cost of a pool unless you can install it yourself. Then you might break even if lucky.

Use an inspector that you pay for on your own.

Don't be afraid to ask questions of anything. If you don't understand something, even if you think someone might think you are stupid for asking, screw them. ASK!
 
Pay attention to the homes around you. They reflect on the people that own them and more importantly, who lives in them. Crappy house, crappy neighbor. You're not just buying into a home, you're buying into a neighborhood.
 
Using a real estate agent was a huge mistake every time I've ever done it. When I went through the process on my own, it was WAY smoother and WAY less costly. Regardless of the bullshit anyone tries to feed you, you and the seller are both paying for the agents.

I actually bought my first home without one and everything went great. I have no idea why I decided to use one on subsequent transactions, but I'm back to not being a dumbass. They literally add no value if you can think your way out of a wet paper bag. I guess I should also consider that some people are rather stupid and may need help from someone who is only marginally less worthless, but the fact that you're asking for advice up front means you're probably smart.

Also, SandEagle is right - don't use recommendations from an agent or a broker unless you independently arrive at the same decision through research or a recommendation from a person who doesn't have a hand in your pocket. Kickbacks for recommendations are both extremely common and directly in opposition with your best interests.

The best piece of advice I can give you is to relax and realize it's just a house. You've been fine so far without it and you'll continue to be fine if you don't get the one you think you really want. People get caught up in the whole ordeal and think they're missing out on a dream if a particular house doesn't end up in their possession. Don't let anyone pressure you into buying a house if you aren't 100.000% sure it's exactly what you want in the location you want at the pricepoint you want at the terms you want.

This is the single biggest thing I didn't understand until multiple transactions. YOU are in the driver's seat, but everyone throughout the whole process will be trying to drive from the backseat. If you don't like something, put your fucking foot down and make sure people know they aren't going to get their way. I'm being slightly abrasive about this for a reason; experience has led me to understand how the whole system really works. Almost no one involved has your best interests in mind, but they're all masterfully trained to make you think they really care and their number one priority is you. It's absolutely the opposite.
 
redfin's website is great for searching for homes and finding out about open houses, and even having them take you on your own tours, but do not use them for your actual real estate agents.
 
If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife. It's just my personal point of view, get an ugly girl to marry you.

Edit: Oh we're talking about houses I see.
 
Upgrades inside the home are easier to do (in terms of not having to pay additional property taxes for an appraisal over) than the ones outside and tend to add more value to the home later.
Click to expand...

Along the same train of thought, don't buy a house that you have to justify to yourself that you'll fix later unless you are completely serious and know you aren't lying to yourself. Most people never get around to fixing those types of issues until they sell the house, which means they got to pay for the changes or upgrades but never got to enjoy them.

Go for as big a garage as you can find. Look either for a half car extension or a full car extension over the amount of vehicles you have.
Click to expand...

I can't believe I forgot this one. Literally every person I know who asked me for advice told me I was wrong about the garage until 3-4 months after they moved in. I tell everyone to get, at the very least, a big or wide two car garage or a three car garage if it's available. I'm the only person in my neighborhood who parks both cars in the garage because I made sure it had a third bay for everything else. This is one of the single biggest conveniences in the house that I will never give up regardless of how many times I have to move.

If you want a pool, buy a house with a pool. Don't put one in later. You'll never recoup the cost of a pool unless you can install it yourself. Then you might break even if lucky.
Click to expand...

My advice would be to not buy a house with a pool, but, if you do, listen to his advice.

Don't be afraid to ask questions of anything. If you don't understand something, even if you think someone might think you are stupid for asking, screw them. ASK!
Click to expand...

This. So this. It goes hand in hand with the latter part of my last post about how everyone is looking out for themselves instead of you. No one is going to help you understand all of the ways you will be screwed for being understandably ignorant of a new process. That, however, won't prevent them from doing it anyway. Always ask if you aren't 100% comfortable with the situation.

tenthumbs said:
Pay attention to the homes around you. They reflect on the people that own them and more importantly, who lives in them. Crappy house, crappy neighbor. You're not just buying into a home, you're buying into a neighborhood.
Click to expand...

Great advice. I met several of the neighbors around my current house before I bought it specifically because that would have prevented me from buying my previous house had I done it.
 
I can tell you a mistake the seller of a house did when I purchased it.

His realtor made the mistake of telling me that he was in the middle of a divorce and needed to close in less than 60 days. At that point I had only looked at the property twice, liked it and made an offer. With time working against him, he decides to get into a bargaining war with me. He needed to supposedly close soon so I played hardball and refused to come up from my initial offer. With time on my side, I had no incentive to play his game and stuck to my price. I had other properties I was interested in and wasn't going to lose sleep if I didn't get this one. He instead wasted weeks negotiating with me and trying to get me to come up. Even his realtor started becoming uncomfortable repeating his offers only for me to reject them. I whittled him down 60K and as a consolation prize to him only went 1K above my original offer. Finally at 30 days to his supposed close date, he grudgingly accepts my offer.

I scheduled a home inspection and that came back with numerous things wrong with the place that I asked him to fix/replace or whittle further off of the price of the property. By the time everything was all said and done he had gone over his scheduled close date and had to take a bridge loan so he could settle his divorce, buy his ex-wife out from her share of the property and then close with me.

I can only assume that considering the fervor that he tried to get me to come up from my initial offer, he already lost money selling at my price. Then he had to make over 12K of repairs. Then with the interest and fees he paid for the bridge loan, well he probably lost a shit-ton of money. Maybe he was getting cleaned out in his divorce as well. He was so pissed off at the closing that he barely wanted to shake my hand. Whatever, thats his realtor's fault for letting his divorce date slip out. The moral is never let someone know time is working against you.
 
As others have said, use a home inspector that is separate from your real estate agent. BUT ALSO - ask the home inspector what his reports do and do not cover, and whether he/she has insurance for stuff that he might miss during the inspection. The second house I bought had engineered (Ga Pacific) clapboard that was subject to a class action law suit. If my home inspector had done a proper inspection of the home (in this case had he looked at the bottom of the clapboard) he would have detected the issue before we bought. Bit me in the ass because we did not find out about the issue until we sold the house and the buyers home inspector found the problem.

Other things to look out for -

1. if there is a soaking/jacuzzi tub - make sure the hot water supply is sufficient for it. Fill up the tub as if you would use it to make sure.

2. Pay attention to small details when looking at the house - are the windows level, symmetrical, etc. Does the home have enough pantry space?

3. Give strong consideration to the cost of heating the home. What fuel is used? How much does it cost? How well insulated is the house? Are there unfixable potential design issues (e.g., all water outlets are on one side of the house, but heating system is on the other), etc.?

4. Call the town and ask if there are any easements or use restrictions. If you have ANY doubt whatsoever as to whether there are wetlands on or near the property, call the town and ask if they have a wetlands map or something else that delineates the wetland relative to the home. I can tell you from personal experience that having wetlands near a home is a HUGE pain in the ass.

5. Be realistic with your budget. Being house poor is not fun.
 
Last edited:
NetWareHead said:
I can tell you a mistake the seller of a house did when I purchased it.

His realtor made the mistake of telling me that he was in the middle of a divorce and needed to close in less than 60 days. At that point I had only looked at the property twice, liked it and made an offer. With time working against him, he decides to get into a bargaining war with me. He needed to supposedly close soon so I played hardball and refused to come up from my initial offer. With time on my side, I had no incentive to play his game and stuck to my price. I had other properties I was interested in and wasn't going to lose sleep if I didn't get this one. He instead wasted weeks negotiating with me and trying to get me to come up. Even his realtor started becoming uncomfortable repeating his offers only for me to reject them. I whittled him down 60K and as a consolation prize to him only went 1K above my original offer. Finally at 30 days to his supposed close date, he grudgingly accepts my offer.

I scheduled a home inspection and that came back with numerous things wrong with the place that I asked him to fix/replace or whittle further off of the price of the property. By the time everything was all said and done he had gone over his scheduled close date and had to take a bridge loan so he could settle his divorce, buy his ex-wife out from her share of the property and then close with me.

I can only assume that considering the fervor that he tried to get me to come up from my initial offer, he already lost money selling at my price. Then he had to make over 12K of repairs. Then with the interest and fees he paid for the bridge loan, well he probably lost a shit-ton of money. Maybe he was getting cleaned out in his divorce as well. He was so pissed off at the closing that he barely wanted to shake my hand. Whatever, thats his realtor's fault for letting his divorce date slip out. The moral is never let someone know time is working against you.
Click to expand...

His realtor is lucky. That could arguably be considered a breach of his/her fiduciary duty to the seller.
 
MrDudeMan said:
Using a real estate agent was a huge mistake every time I've ever done it. When I went through the process on my own, it was WAY smoother and WAY less costly. Regardless of the bullshit anyone tries to feed you, you and the seller are both paying for the agents.

I actually bought my first home without one and everything went great. I have no idea why I decided to use one on subsequent transactions, but I'm back to not being a dumbass. They literally add no value if you can think your way out of a wet paper bag. I guess I should also consider that some people are rather stupid and may need help from someone who is only marginally less worthless, but the fact that you're asking for advice up front means you're probably smart.

Also, SandEagle is right - don't use recommendations from an agent or a broker unless you independently arrive at the same decision through research or a recommendation from a person who doesn't have a hand in your pocket. Kickbacks for recommendations are both extremely common and directly in opposition with your best interests.

The best piece of advice I can give you is to relax and realize it's just a house. You've been fine so far without it and you'll continue to be fine if you don't get the one you think you really want. People get caught up in the whole ordeal and think they're missing out on a dream if a particular house doesn't end up in their possession. Don't let anyone pressure you into buying a house if you aren't 100.000% sure it's exactly what you want in the location you want at the pricepoint you want at the terms you want.

This is the single biggest thing I didn't understand until multiple transactions. YOU are in the driver's seat, but everyone throughout the whole process will be trying to drive from the backseat. If you don't like something, put your fucking foot down and make sure people know they aren't going to get their way. I'm being slightly abrasive about this for a reason; experience has led me to understand how the whole system really works. Almost no one involved has your best interests in mind, but they're all masterfully trained to make you think they really care and their number one priority is you. It's absolutely the opposite.
Click to expand...

The only reason to have a real estate agent is if there are some non-disclosed liens on the property the seller is trying to hide. Or in Texas, if you are buying ag land that doesn't have all the yearly receipts, you could be screwed if you didn't catch that. With an agent, you put the responsibility on them to make sure all that is found out before buying.

As for other things the agent does.. they do have a certain amount of bargaining power, at least with home builders, that a new home buyer wouldn't have. Because many people use agents to buy homes, if a home builder is being stupid (like mine currently is) then the agent will start telling all the other agents to steer their business away from the builder (which mine is doing) until they get off their asses and fix their shit.

Besides those two scenarios, yah they don't contribute much for that 3% of the housing price. I did almost all the bargaining and negotiations when purchasing my house. Mainly because I was time constrained on how quickly I had to purchase and how much time my agent could spend on the sale with me. So I did a lot of the work they would normally do. But the agent is paying off in getting the builder to finish to agreeing to what they originally promised as well. Something I hadn't had as much luck in forcing them to do so over.
 
Excellent advice all around... Marking this thread so I return to it within a year when I start the process of looking for a house myself.
 
I think making a "needs" list and a "wants" list helped me a lot.

It'll help put things in perspective for you as to what you really actually want vs what you really do need in a house.
 
HumblePie said:
The only reason to have a real estate agent is if there are some non-disclosed liens on the property the seller is trying to hide. Or in Texas, if you are buying ag land that doesn't have all the yearly receipts, you could be screwed if you didn't catch that. With an agent, you put the responsibility on them to make sure all that is found out before buying.
Click to expand...

Can't say a realtor ever did that for me. Isn't that why you typically have a $600 title inspection as part of the closing cost on a loan?
 
skulldrinker said:
Not really a mistake but ours was a new built and was not aware that gutters and grass and A/C was not included in the price.
Click to expand...


WHAT? 😕

Where was this? I thought gutters were a code item? I can see the grass not being included and question the A/C a little as well depending on where the house was built.
 
B.O.A.

:colbert:

Bought my Grand Mother's house for 75% of value. After the fact, realized B.O.A. charged me PMI. The loan officer who knew the sale details said, "Well, you financed 95% of the loan. You should have paid Grandma $1 for the house and then get the loan to pay her her $$." Bitch.
 
WiseUp216 said:
We're starting our preapproval process in the next week or two and I'm looking for some real world data. What better place than ATOT?

What do you wish you knew before you bought your first home?

Any horror stories?
Click to expand...
I was living in Louisiana. I bought a mobile home.

Never buy a mobile home. Ever.
 
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