Once the initial excitement of owning your first home wears off and reality sets in, you may realize that you’ve not only made a few mistakes along the way but, those mistakes could cost you substantially in the future. Being a first-time homeowner is an exciting but potentially disastrous journey as making costly errors that other homebuyers before you have made can turn from thrilling experience into financial devastation very quickly.

Even if this is your first home purchase, learning from others’ mistakes should prove beneficial. Home buying can be an extended and complex process that may become taxing; before holding that special celebration of its opening party, make sure not to commit financial missteps as previously observed by your predecessors.

What are the most frequently made mistakes by homebuyers when purchasing properties?

Mistake #1: Not Securing Funding/Financing As First Time Homebuyers

Not getting pre-approved for a mortgage before starting to look is one of the biggest mistakes to avoid; otherwise, you risk wasting time when house hunting or encountering financial complications if there’s not enough financing in place until final documents come through.

“Failing to contact their bank and seek financing before purchasing their dream house can impede success for first-time homebuyers,” noted Chris Craddock, an experienced property agent. “Homebuyers may be taken aback to find that they don’t qualify for a mortgage or don’t have enough savings available to complete all steps necessary in home buying,” according to Craddock.

As soon as you’ve fallen for your dream house, you must ensure both affordability and mortgage qualification. Before applying for any loan or mortgage product you are interested in applying for, get a pre-approval so you know what selection of properties fits within the price range of your budget or not. Getting a pre-approval can make house hunting much simpler!

Mistake #2: Not Considering All New Homeownership Costs/Expenses

At some point in your life, home ownership and its associated expenses will become one of the more challenging obstacles in your way. We all recognize the necessity of paying a down payment. Still, additional expenses may add up quickly when making this life-altering commitment. When buying their first house, buyers often only consider mortgage rate and down payment requirements but neglect other costs such as closing expenses, moving charges, additional closing expenses, etc.

As a rule of thumb when planning for home ownership, monthly mortgage payments shouldn’t exceed 28% of total after-tax income.

Ramit Sethi of the Netflix show “How to Make it Rich” recommends homeowners estimate their budget before making any housing purchases and add 35% or 50% in “phantom costs of property,” such as house closing fees, maintenance charges, tax payments repairs as well as legal expenses before receiving keys for your new house.

Sethi suggests creating an emergency fund when becoming a homeowner; you never know when you may require money for unexpected appliances or products that you purchased that require immediate funding.

As soon as you become a homeowner, other expenses should come your way, from furniture purchases and home upgrades that must be undertaken to any repairs that must be performed in your new space. As it’s essential that money be set aside in case, unexpected bills pop up once your mortgage payment has cleared out the way to any unexpected repairs needed later down the line, be sure to set some aside now in the form of savings accounts!

Mistake #3: Not Paying For An Independent/Quality Home Inspection

Due to fluctuations in both demand and supply, real estate markets experienced massive bidding wars, which altered their purchasing procedures significantly. Homes often sold for prices exceeding what had originally been offered, and it became common practice to skip house inspections once new offers had been accepted to see whether first-time buyers might even qualify to enter this particular marketplace for real estate purchases.

“To minimize expenses associated with buying your first home,” according to Elphi Bolombo of Re/Max Realty Agency in West Los Angeles, “it is essential that a thorough inspection be completed of every aspect of it before placing an offer and closing on a mortgage loan,” according to Bolombo.

An inspection at home will help you establish whether repairs or major structural damages exist and identify whether critical structural repairs need to be addressed immediately. An inspector will examine your HVAC system, electrical wiring for electrical needs as well as the roof and other parts of your structure for any signs of trouble or potential structural failures.

Repairs might seem simple enough at first, like replacing an entry handle, but sometimes structural issues arise that necessitate more extensive fixes – cracked floor tiles, broken windows, and other repairs could cost hundreds of dollars in addition to other expenses that you must consider as you make repairs in your home.

As mentioned above, make sure that if the seller mentions repairs, they must carry out that you do not trust verbal contracts alone; verify with professional licensing entities before initiating repairs yourself.

A GOBankingRates study indicated 88% of people that completed home renovation projects within the last year, found that the price of the home (home value) had been inflated by an average of 40% when it was listed for sale on the local MLS. It’s essential that when considering purchasing property that requires renovation prior to moving in, higher prices are factored into costs for remodeling; otherwise, moving will become very challenging indeed!

If your intent is to purchase a house, but the house inspection has become an obstacle in your quest, there’s always the option of waiving its contingent inspection requirement – giving you all of the same data while not holding the seller liable in case repairs need to be performed on the property in future purchases.

First-time homebuyers make several common errors that could have catastrophic financial repercussions, which require careful preparation in order to successfully purchase their first house. With some advance preparation and planning, your dreams of homeownership could come true sooner!