When you are buying or selling a home, friends and family members always have an opinion and want to offer helpful advice. But they can be more of a hindrance than a help, and the experts recommend ignoring them. From not paying insurance to allowing the sellers to stay in the house after you’ve bought it without any sort of collateral, these are the 4 worst pieces of advice for buying a house.
As we always say, buying and selling a home can be one of the most important decisions in people's lives. Of course, it’s normal to have lots of doubts and questions about it like how much to ask for, how to finance it, whether it needs renovations or not. However, be warned of the problems that can arise when you listen to bad advice.
Bad advice: “Fully refurbish before you move in”
Unless there are serious structural or functional problems you want to change in the house you just bought, experts recommend spending a few months in your new home to find out what you really need to upgrade.
Don't do any improvement works straight away because you may need to spend that money in the future. You may only have to update the house by painting, sanding the floor or adding new furniture, but it’s best to do it room by room.
Bad advice: “You don’t need home insurance”
Stopping your home insurance payments is one of the worst decisions you can make, even if you think you can save some money. If you have a mortgage, the bank will require you to be insured. It's best to always keep your home insured to avoid problems with your neighbours, or in case of fire.
Bad advice: “Make a low offer”
You're not sure what to do – you’re in love with a house, but you want to get it for the best possible price. However, making an offer that’s too low can push you out of the running. It’s important to do some fieldwork. Get to know the area where you want to buy, look on the internet and find out prices of other houses in the same area. Go to the Property Registry and get the nota simple, which will describe all the features of the property. Be realistic about your monetary situation and your financing capacity.
Bad advice: “Let the seller stay in the house”
If the seller asks you to stay on in the house for a couple of months while they’re looking for a new home, even after you’ve already bought it, you must put down the conditions clearly in writing. What happens if the house is damaged? Whose insurance would cover it? What if the seller can't find a house and never leaves? There should be a carefully drafted legal agreement that includes the start and end dates, the penalties if they refuse to leave, and the insurance requirements. And as the saying goes, "Better safe than sorry”.
From the original article: The Worst Home Buying Advice Experts Have Ever Heard (Apartment Therapy)
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