10 Mistakes First-Time Home Buyers Make

Smart Money lists ten mistakes first-time home buyers make as follows:

1. Not knowing how much house you can afford.
2. Assuming foreclosures are great deals.
3. Letting your true feelings show.
4. Failing to find a good buyer's agent.
5. Underestimating the costs of owning a home.
6. Failing to budget for property taxes.
7. Assuming your first offer will get accepted.
8. Skipping the inspection.
9. Doing too much too fast.
10. Failing to include a contingency clause in the contract.

Here's our take on each of these:

1. Don't let a bank tell you how much you should borrow. Figure out what you can afford (including your down payment) and get a home in that price range. Then again, others think you should buy more house than you need. We MAY agree with this — as long as it's not more house than you can AFFORD.

2. Foreclosures can be good deals, but they also often come with a lot of baggage (like the homeowners trashing it before they left.) Just go in with your eyes wide open and expecting there to be "surprises" and you'll be prepared to potentially by a foreclosure.

3. Never let your true feelings show. Even tell your kids (if you have them) not to comment on a home when they go in with you. They can say whatever they want to to you once you're back in the car, but while we're in the house, they aren't to comment good or bad on the place. (Yes, buying a house is a HUGE game, unfortunately.)

4. Having a bad agent can be a real drain on you in many ways — physically, emotionally, financially, etc.  Thankfully, there are ways to pick a good realtor.

5. There are all sorts of costs in buying a home. General maintenance goes without saying, but also consider the one-time costs of painting, carpeting, new furniture, etc. that you'll need to buy if you get a new home.

6. Real estate taxes go up, but hardly ever go down (at least much), even in this economy.

7. You NEVER want the first offer accepted.

8. You're going to buy something for a few hundred thousand dollars (most likely). Don't you think it's worth it to pay $400 or so to see if it's in good shape? Money well-spent!

9. Goes along with #5. Not only do you need to budget for everything, but don't worry about doing it all within a month or two of moving in. Plan for a six to twelve month time period before getting fully settled.

10. Good thing we had a contingency clause in one of our most recent deals or our buyer would have been stuck with a major problem.

Talk to us about these and other mistakes home buyers make. We're here to help!