Avoid Buying Panic

We have all had buyers remorse and made purchases at the last second, neither of which are a fun experience. To avoid a bad home buying experience, follow these guidelines:

1. Search for a real estate professional who has experience and knowledge with the location and property type you value.
2. Keep asking "why?" Challenge your thinking and assumptions, and those of the professionals you work with.
3. Get to know the neighborhood(s) you want to live in, so you can evaluate which streets carry the highest property values and the greatest potential for value growth. Within each neighborhood, there is a gradient of values. When abutting areas are of higher value, streets closer to this "better" neighborhood will carry higher values. The opposite is true for adjacent lesser areas.
4. Seek out a knowledgeable, reliable home inspector who can address quality of construction and property devaluators, such as out-dated electrical systems like knob and tube and aluminum wiring, and dangerous insulation like urea formaldehyde and Zonolite. Learn as much as you can about cost-to-correct for worn-out roofs, sagging eavestroughs and other standard home repair projects. This will allow you to estimate expenses over the first year or so of ownership. Your chosen real estate professional can also project potential maintenance and repair costs to enable you to accurately budget your purchase for sustainability.
5. Pre-qualify with a mortgage broker who can provide access to funds beyond traditional lenders. Mortgage brokers can usually arrange better mortgage terms with traditional lenders than an individual buyer can, but these brokers may also have private and less-traditional sources of funding. Their lending criteria may not be as rigid and their scope of properties greater.
6. Know what you "need" and what you "want" and how you'll prioritize the items on these two lists. Buying real estate is all about compromise. Doing this under pressure can be difficult. Taking the time to make these decisions beforehand can pay off.