5 House Hunting Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

Posted on 01/10/2015

Some House Hunting Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

Yes, there is a wrong way to look for a new house. In fact, there are plenty of wrong ways, and you should learn to avoid all of them unless you want to get jibbed out of your money. Moving house is hard enough without the knowledge that you will be moving to a place that definitely doesn’t return the value of your money. And even if you do find a good house, there are plenty of things that could go wrong doing the inspection that might cost you – either money or the offer itself. You should keep your relocation as simple and as safe as possible with just a bit of smart thinking and a careful approach to everything you do. Every mistake is easily recognisable and avoidable as long as you know what to look for, so now you can get fully educated on what you should know about houses on sale. After all, if it was easy to find a proper house there would not be so many expensive real estate agencies that offer the best housing at the highest prices.

1. Inspect everything you think of buying.
Never buy via photos. You agent offers you a house, sends you pictures, it looks great. The next step is not to ask about the neighbourhood and buy the house if you like what you hear, but to go over there and see it for yourself. You need to thoroughly inspect everything that you plan on spending a colossal sum on, especially if you plan a lengthy stay there.

2. Avoid houses with artificially inflated value.
Many houses have decorations added and extensions built just to inflate their market value. This extra decor is 99 percent of the time worthless to you and you might end up never using that pool in the backyard, or that unstable-looking extension that is supposed to be a garage but looks more like a hastily built shack. Avoid such market strategies and look for houses that offer only what you need.

3. Don’t bring beverages along for the check out.
When doing an inspection of a house you maybe wish to buy, don’t take along your coffee or cup of smoothie. Depending on the type of current owner the house has, one spill can cost you the price of a team of professional cleaners sent to deal with your accident, and the owner will be less willing to sell you his or her house.

4. Don’t wear hard to take off/put on shoes.
Many house owners put in their houses expensive rugs and carpets and prefer that they are not touched by shoes that spend the better half of the day walking in the dirt outside. That means that you will have to take off your shoes to inspect the place, and put them back on as you leave – with uncomfortable and laced shoes, this will take time and effort, and frustration. Also, if you want to be taken seriously, maybe it was a bad idea to put on your Sylvester and Tweety socks.

5. Do not verbally (or physically) bash a house in front of the seller.
If you don’t like a house, or part of the house, that’s fine. But do keep the opinion to yourself and be polite to the seller. A bad opinion might offend him or her and even if you, at a later stage, find out that the house is the best of the bunch on offer, then the seller will be much less willing to sell it, or might want a higher price. So stay clear of owner’s pride and only comment on the things you like.

Avoid these mistakes and you should be able to go through a nice and easy relocation. All that is left for you is to set a date with the removal company and start making that moving checklist.