I’ve seen a lot of mistakes. I’ve made a lot, and I’ve guided a lot of my clients away from making mistakes.

A few common mistakes made by homebuyers (there are a lot more than 3!)

1. Not knowing what your comfortable price range is. Sometimes it’s lower, sometimes it’s higher than you expect, but knowing your comfortable price range is critical.
2. Not knowing the context of the house you’re considering. There’s way more to a house than the four corners of the property. (what are your triangles?) The house matters, but so does the neighborhood. And the road leading to the neighborhood. And the development that’s possibly coming down the road that will affect the roads leading to your neighborhood and home.
3. Not reading Charlottesville Tomorrow. See 2.
4. Not considering resale value. See 2 as well.
5. Trying to negotiate directly with unrepresented sellers*. Buffers matter. I’ve represented buyers buying homes from unrepresented sellers, and I’ve made the mistake myself of buying a home from an unrepresented seller. Emotions are powerful things, and they cloud judgement.
6. Not factoring in costs of utilities and committing. (I’m seeing this mistake far less often than I did five years ago)
7. Working with the wrong agent – not all agents practice equally, and not all agents and buyers are good fits.
8. Not asking questions. There are a lot of questions that buyers should be asking; I try to help my buyers ask better questions.

Have a question? I’m here. 434-242-7140 or jim@realcentralva.com

* The volume of unrepresented sellers on Zillow has now gotten to the point that I’ve set up a search there to get alerted of new “for sale by owner” listings. As a buyer broker, I don’t care where the listing is found, so long as it’s right for my clients.