Summary: Buying or selling a home can be a challenging process for any homeowner. Check out these 3 mistakes buyers and sellers regret making. Plus, learn how to avoid these mistakes on your next real estate transaction and prevent any heartbreak, buyers remorse, or loss of funds.
3 Buyer Mistakes
1. Picking the Wrong Location
For many buyers out there, buying a home or property can come with a lot of forgiveness. When a buyer is in love, they have the uncanny ability to forgive a property’s perceived faults. Noise? Forgiven. Bad location? Forgiven. Not enough amenities? Forgiven. One of the most important and key rules to buying a home is ensuring the location is right. For some buyers, the luxury of finding the perfect home in the perfect location is not feasible. They may be up against a crazy market or have economic reasons for looking in a specific area.
How to Avoid: Buyers who are not rushing to find a new home, take the time to map out their prime location. Then, they will wait for that perfect property to appear on the market. Don’t fall victim to these common mistakes buyers and sellers regret making. If you don’t buy in the area you want to live in, it could end up costing you in the long run. Find the home of your dreams in your desired area with our custom Home Search.
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2. Buying Sight Unseen
The pandemic has caused buyers to rely on virtual tours and photos to really get a feel for a home. While open houses and in-person viewings have become the norm again, many buyers are still opting to buy sight unseen. Some buyers have had no issues with relying on listing photos and tours; others haven’t been so lucky. The last thing you want is to end up with buyers remorse, living in a home you don’t actually want. Another common issue in areas with crazy markets is foregoing standard home inspections. As a buyer, you cannot depend on a seller to know all the issues with their property. Some cash buyers can afford to forego an inspection; others cannot.
How to Avoid: Mistakes happen. You can 100% avoid buyers remorse by actually visiting the home you want to buy. Make a point of having a proper inspection done, even if it doesn’t change the terms of your contract. At least you will now have an idea of what you’re getting yourself into with your new home.
3. Living in an HOA
Communities with HOAs vary greatly in terms of the reach the HOA has over community members. Living in a community with an HOA can be great for homeowners that desire structure within their neighborhood. For others, it can be a total nightmare. Are you the type of person that likes to control the color of your home’s exterior, park your car on the street, or keep your garbage cans on the side of your house? You could end up making a big mistake if you purchase a home in an HOA community.
How to Avoid: If you have your eye on a specific neighborhood or community that has an HOA, don’t worry. A little research goes a long way. You or your trusted Realtor can review all rules and regulations before you buy.
3 Seller Mistakes
1. Not Putting Enough Effort Into the Sale
Regardless of whether you live in a hot market or not, buyers love seeing a home at its best. A home that’s taken care of will undoubtedly have more interest and possibly more offers than one that isn’t. For sellers, putting effort into the sale can be as simple as ensuring your home is tidy and clutter free. For some buyers, seeing a home at its worst could impact whether they lowball their offer.
How to Avoid: Buyers like to get excited when looking at a house. So, don’t make the mistake of failing to give buyers every reason to be excited to see your home.
2. Not Planning for Taxes
For many markets across North America, property values have steadily increased over the past few years. Owners who have been in their homes for decades are seeing huge profits when they sell. Generally, homes and other types of property are not subject to normal sales tax. However, if you see a large return on your sale you may be subject to other taxes, like capital-gains taxes. Exemptions and reductions are available, but rely on certain factors to be met. It’s not a guarantee you’ll be able to avoid tax on your sale.
How to Avoid: Never assume you won’t have to pay taxes. Get in touch with a local expert to find out whether you’ll be subject to taxes before selling. Then prepare to sell your property accordingly.
3. Not Being Upfront About Issues
No one wants to admit their home has or had issues. However, sellers are required by law to disclose any and all known issues. Hiding current or previous issues, repairs, even feigning ignorance of an issue, it could hurt you in the future. Most residential sales in the US require some form of seller disclosure documentation. If the new owners can prove you failed to disclose a known issue, they have the right to litigation.
How to Avoid: Be forthright when it comes time to sell by working with your agent to disclose all necessary items. Prevent any potential negative outcomes or costly litigations.
Conclusion
Buying and selling real estate can be a big task, especially for new buyers. Whether a newbie or seasoned veteran, it is always best to work with a professionally licensed agent to prevent any heartbreak, buyers remorse, or loss of funds. If you’re thinking of buying or selling, get in touch with our team today to avoid these 3 mistakes buyers and sellers regret making and more, get in touch with our team today!
