Top Ten Fairfax Home Buyers Mistakes Made Buying a Home

Many times as real estate agent I am called on a listing appointment to list a home where my experience tells me that I cannot help the home seller.  The reason is simple – the home buyers purchased the wrong property!  I cannot remedy a dire situation except by selling it at a price the homeowners will not accept.  I am not the bearer of bad news, they are just in denial. Chances are they will pay a hefty price and learn a very valuable lesson from a very bad choice.  So why do buyers – now frustrated homeowners buy the wrong home in the first place?  There are many reasons!  Perhaps it was Impulse, lack of due diligence, they purchased a home without an buyers agent or they purchased a home with a part time friend that dabbles in real estate, and thought they were getting the deal of a lifetime!  They weren’t!  They just did not have all the facts in front of them, and even if they did they chose not to look too closely at the details!  There is an old saying that says…“Fools rush in where agents dare tread.”  It really defines a lot of what is happening to day in real estate.  My real estate experience tells me, that not every home is a good deal!  Some are better than others, and some well…not so good- because they will take a long time to sell before it sinks into the homeowners that they made a major mistake when they purchased a particular home or property. 

Top Ten Mistakes Home Buyers Make When They Purchased their Home 

1. They did not consider the resale value of the home.  Yes the home rocked their boat, but will it rock the boat of other homebuyers?  What happens if they needed to sell the home quickly?  Life has a way of just happening.  What do you do if there is a job loss, relocation for employment, a prolonged personal illness, or the death of a loved one?  A homes values is limited to what a buyer will actually pay you for your home.

2. They did not do a home inspection when the home was purchased, and there are many major issues that need to be addressed.  Saving $350 dollars they would pay an inspector seemed like a waste of money at the time. (In retrospect it would be a lot cheaper than a new roof, mold or radon remediation or the cost of replacing a failed septic system.)

3. They simply overpaid and purchased the most expensive home in the neighborhood.

4. They did not use an experienced buyer’s agent to represent them in the purchase of their home or they purchased a home directly from the builder overlooking the fact that the builder’s representative that cannot represent them by law since they are already working for the builder. 

5. They overbought and paid for a home they could not afford.  They thought leveraging, and a balloon mortgage would be a good idea since home prices can only go higher.

6. They did not look closely at the neighborhood where they were buying their dream home.  Instead they focused on the inside features of the home such as granite countertops, hardwood flooring, and stainless appliances, but ignored nearby eyesores.  Busy congested roads, nearby highway expansion, active railroad lines, smelly factories and abandoned industrial parks were overlooked because the home appealed so much to them.  

7. Location, location, location was passé to them!  A commute to the country home every evening would be organically fun.  However a few years later reality is sinking in.  Rising gas prices, highway gridlock, inferior schools, fewer local job opportunities, and 2 hour commutes has changed their minds. It is a hard lesson to learn latter in life that schools and test scores do matter.

8. Purchasing a home impulsively without looking at the financial implications.  No money down, lack of equity, and stretching a budget you never looked at can be sobering and very painful.  They purchased a home on impulse instead of strategically looking at an affordable budget.  They neglected to look at life, and make provisions for future needs.

9. They dismissed the advice of their real estate agent, attorney, or home inspector because a friend or family relative told them otherwise.

10. They wanted to purchase the home themselves without the help of others – it would be the adventure of a lifetime.  After all, they could negotiate better for themselves, and negotiate the buyers agent’s commission off the top price of the home or property! Let the adventures begin.