House Hunting Mistakes You Didn’t Know You Were Making
25-June-2020
You’ve heard a thousand different pieces of advice from friends. You’ve done your online research and made a list of your must-haves and your deal-breakers. You and your significant other have finally made the decision to buy a home.
Whether it’s your first time buying or building a home or you’ve done this before, the house-hunting process can be overwhelming. Don’t let the complexities scare you. We’ve compiled a list of some of the most commonly made mistakes and what you can do to avoid them.
While by no means exhaustive, we hope this list will serve as a jumping-off point for many of you looking to buy or build your first home.
Not researching the neighborhood
With a home, you can make renovations and upgrade out-of-date appliances. What you can’t do is remove that noisy highway that runs behind your home or change the middle school in your district.
Location is key and whether it means researching if a city is right for you and your family or if a particular neighborhood will suit your lifestyle.
If you’re able to explore the area in person, great! Drive through the neighborhood, check out what’s close by. If you have friends in the area make sure to get their opinion.
Sometimes visiting the location is not always an option but thankfully there are plenty of online resources for that.
Charlotte, North Carolina, the base for Casanova Homes, is a booming metropolis ripe with homes and excellent locations for building and buying homes. Most cities like Charlotte have local guides and online resources for researching an area before moving there. Many even have a real estate section where you can take virtual tours of neighborhoods and find local builders.
If you are coming to Charlotte, here are some great accounts we recommend. You can follow them on Instagram or visit their websites here:
Charlotte Agenda | www.charlotteagenda.com | @charlotteagenda
Charlotte’s Got A Lot | www.charlottesgotalot.com/ | @charlottesgotalot
Not getting pre-approved
So let’s say you’ve done all of the up-front work of calculating your budget based on your income and regular expenses. Great work!
Now your next step should be to meet with a lender who can grant you pre-approval for your mortgage.
A lender will do a lot of the behind-the-scenes work, not only evaluating income and credit scores but also taking into account any outstanding debt, be it student loans or credit cards.
Based on this information, he or she can determine what kind of a mortgage you qualify for and in turn, the type of homes that should be on your list.
With this information, you don’t have to waste time looking at houses outside of your price range and if you do make an offer on your dream home, your lender will have made sure you have the financials to qualify. This is especially helpful in a competitive market.
There are also some specific mistakes to watch out for when building a home. Here are a few:
Clearing a lot on your own
This is a common mistake that can be made when those building a home try to cut costs on the front end. This can wind up being costly in the long run. Here’s why:
In North Carolina for example, there is a law that you can only clear up to one acre of land without a building permit. Going beyond that can incur huge, unnecessary fines.
What sometimes can happen is that homebuyers think they are saving money by clearing their own land when in reality, they are running the risk of being fined for thousands of dollars.
It’s better to leave lot-clearing in the hands of your general contractor who will have the necessary permits and licenses to do so.
By the time buyers would need their lot cleared, the building company should already be in charge. As soon as a contract is signed, financial status secured, the company would get a building permit to start clearing.
Keep in mind that heeding the advice of your construction company can and should actually save you money!
This leads us to our final mistake. It’s very important WHO you choose to be in charge of that process.
Not carefully selecting your General Contractor
For buyers looking to build, we cannot overstate the importance of doing research when choosing a general contractor. This is the person or company in charge of your home - of hiring subcontractors to manage all of the small details that will determine your quality of life in your new home.
It is crucial to find someone who communicates with and understands the needs of the homeowner. The general contractor should be able to hold the desires of the client in one hand while balancing the realities of building in the other - taking into consideration the client’s ideas while seeking the functionality of the home. This should be someone who can advise but also get you the quality you need in your home.
Ask around. Seek out friends who have gone through the process and ask them about their experience. Were there delays? Were subcontractors constantly being rotated out or changed? Was the general contractor only following his/her vision? Do the research and find the best fit for you!
While we could go on, these are just a few of the most common mistakes we see people make. Stay posted for more articles and advice for all of your home buying needs!
Sources:
https://www.homelight.com/blog/buyer-house-hunting-mistakes/https://www.loghome.com/articles/article/builders-and-general-contractors