Think Twice Before You Buy!
Many people are currently house hunting. Trapped in city apartments or small houses during a pandemic and low interest rates make them feel that now is the right time to move on and buy their first own home or a bigger property.
It seems like the right decision and makes sense, if there would be enough inventory.
But at the same time many homeowners hesitate to list their properties under the current circumstances. As a result, prices spike and bidding wars are commonplace because buyers do not have much to choose from.
Searching several months for a home, getting outbid again and again or advised by the wrong professionals, some buyers get desperate. All they want is to close on a home, reach their goal to buy a new home and with every time the get outbid, they are willing to take a bigger risk.
Anxious to finally succeed, the offers get higher, inspections get waived or other due diligence they would normally perform, is skipped.
Finally moved to the new home many discover the pitfalls of their hasty decision; too many concessions were made. Just purchased, the property turns out not to be the dream home they were looking for. No money is left for renovations and thanks to the waived inspections some properties turn out to be a money pit. At this point some homeowners realize that they should have seen the warning signs, but the pandemic housing fever got the better of them.
Unlike an expensive watch or clothing, a house can’t be returned if the buyer is unhappy with it. Rule number one when you are buying a home is: do not rush into a purchase as millions of Americans did just that in 2020.
Buying a home is a serious commitment and you have to be thorough. Do not overlook the risks coming with a move from a city apartment to a large home in a rural area. Insurance companies reported an increase of non-weather-related losses because new homeowners are not well versed in how to prevent pipes from freezing, for example. Home emergency repairs tripled from 2019 to 2020 according to HomeAdvisor.
My advice: Take your time, make your decisions carefully and do your due diligence, do not wave inspections and most important, make sure you are buying the home you really want.
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