Buyers that fail to pay attention might find that the dream house is a money pit. The vast majority of agents have little to no experience evaluating a home. Seller’s disclosures? Please, we’ve written repeatedly that home buyers should not put much faith in seller disclosures. Home inspectors should always be consulted but a good 75% of a report is boilerplate; issues noted are often followed by “…and an expert in the field should evaluate…”. If a buyer fails to follow up – any many do – problems can arise. Making a home purchase look boring takes a significant amount of experience and teamwork; one of the most important aspects is fully understanding and addressing the flaws in every home. Miss something and that dream home becomes a bottomless money pit. What to do? Plenty..... There are common sense moves that every buyer should do - and they very fist and basic thing is ensure that everyone involved is an EXPERT. The single most important asset to a buyer is their agent, yet and still so many buyers do not take this most important step seriously. Many buyers either don't care to or don't know how to properly select a real estate agent. Miss that and trouble follows because most buyers will depend on their agent to keep them out of trouble. There are three main areas to focus attention on to avoid falling into a money pit home.
1. QUALIFY everyone involved in the transaction. From agent to inspector to contractor to surveyor to.......just a few seconds on Google...do something!
2. Learn about homes, what to look for and what might be common problems for homes in the area under consideration. Knowing trends or issues in the area, age of homes, materials used, trends....all help paint a background for a buyer.
3. Understand options if and when something arises. The agent is critical here; are there outs in the contract to prevent the buyer from being trapped in a deal? While the above may be common sense, it’s fascinating how stupid – yes that’s harsh but it’s true – some home buyers are when it comes to this process. It’s baffling; would a buyer act as nonchalantly if handing 400K to a financial adviser? Why would they use Uncle Tony who is between jobs as their agent knowing Tony isn’t a pro? Read more and dive deeper into ways to avoid The Dream House that Becomes a Nightmare. Don't let what should be one of the best things become one of the worst - or a financial calamity that does lasting damage.
Sources: Realty Times, Hank Miller/Zillow/AOL Real Estate/ New York Times
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