Common Missteps in House Hunting

Before you dedicate every Saturday to hitting as many open houses as your city holds, you need to know what you're looking for. If your Trulia search produced over a hundred results, you may lack focus in your "wants" and "needs" criteria which will make your eventual house hunt increasingly frustrating.

Making sure you are informed before entering into the search process will help you narrow what you're looking for and get to the offer stage more quickly.

Here are five tips from Team Gale to help you as you set off on your journey to homeownership!

1. Shopping for a home before you know how much you'll be able to borrow is flirting with disaster. You need to make a conscious financial decision versus an emotional decision. Speaking with a mortgage lender to understand your options before you start touring homes for sale is a crucial first step! In fact, many REALTORs will ask if you are pre-approved before taking you on as a client.

2. Understand that pre-qualification and pre-approval sound like the same thing, but are very different phases of the lending process. Pre-qual gives you a ballpark, pre-aprroval gives you a figure.

3. If you're only interested in buying a house in one or two neighborhoods, you will find the search more difficult. Brainstorm some of the things that are important to you, rather than the zip code. Whether the area is safe, has a good school system, and is in close proximity to things you enjoy are a few items to consider.

4. Be an emphatic viewer. When you do start scheduling showings, make sure you're falling for the house not the staging. You should be imagining your things in the space, rather than revering the current decor. In the same vein, you shouldn't let cosmetic issues like an ugly paint color, dated furniture, or easy style upgrades like crown molding deter you from choosing a home. You want to be aware of signs of neglect and the possibility that steps have been made to conceal them with rented fine home furnishings.

5. You ambitious HGTV watchers may think that a house you like can easily become one you love with a little work. If you find yourself mentally tearing down walls and rearranging the layout before an offer is even made, you should take the time to consult a contractor to suss out how much your lofty construction goals will run you! Moving a wall entails adjustment of plumbing and electrical paths, which can cost several thousand dollars you don't have laying around or cannot get approved within the terms of your loan.