How to Guide for First Time Home Purchasers

by Craig Axelrod
July 27, 2009

As you prepare to buy your first home, there is a lot to learn. Often, people spend more time chosing what LCD TV to purchase than they will on their particular home. Sure, they may look at many houses before making a buying decision, but how much research did they do about that particular home before they bought that real estate?

When purchasing a TV, you do your homework, read reviews, visit chat forums and compare models.

Then you narrow it down and choose the model with the attributes you need at the cost you want to pay.

With homes, the comparison is not so simple. There are no comparisons that you can download from the Internet preloaded with data to aid you compare two different houses side-by-side. Even if they were out there, it can show basics - taxes, lot size, etc., but you would still need to do your own comparison to make sure the info is accurate AND to review dozens of features inside the home.

First, educate yourself on the home purchase process. Visit Home Buyers Guide and download the free guide that talks about the home purchasing procedures. Read through this guide - a 100 page PDF - a wonderful guide for buying a house.

Next, decide on your location. If you're purchasing Commack real estate, for example, be ready to compare several homes. Don't just walk through, look around and then try to remember the details days and weeks later. Prepare checklists (samples are included in the guide you may download) that you should take to every house you visit. Make notes of the number of bedrooms, the size of the rooms, the configuration of the kitchen, appliances and more. Look at the landscape. Is it appealing?

Does it have to be redone? These are questions that you not only need to ask, but also need to track.

You can set up a spreadsheet using Excel-were you easily create a chart on a piece of paper with a ruler. Down the left side, create a list of all of the features that you may find in the house. If you want a master bedroom plus 4 more, list those.

Drop columns going down the page, one for each home.

Taking notes in the corresponding box for each home so you may sit back after looking at many homes and make a good comparison.

One of the ways that home buyers get themselves in trouble - particularly first-time home buyers - is that they fall in love with the home and miss the issues.

These problems start cropping up on the day that you move-in and, at that time, it's usually too late to deal with them.

How do you avoid these problems? Well, with new construction you can have less problems. Why? Because the house is new. What generally runs better, a brand-new car or a 12-year-old car? The answer is obvious. All problems can of course happen with the new car, they're far more likely with the used. The same thing applies to homes. The older the home is, the more likely that you can have issues. New houses, while priced marginally higher, will usually have far fewer issues.

For example, with Manorwood Estates in Commack New York, a small development with energy Star certified houses, all houses are newly built. You can examine during construction to make sure that things are going as anticipated. Once completed, these houses - built to energy Star specifications - can have few issues if any. If they do, you're still in contact with the builder who is given a warranty on the house. As issues appear, contact the builder who will promptly address them for you.

Don't minimize the value of the warranties, including warranties on the appliances. If you move into a older house with a 20-year-old refrigerator and that refrigerator quickly dies, your only solution is to go purchase a new refrigerator. If your house has a new refrigerator with a warranty, it should be repaired at no expense to you.

As you go forward, educate yourself. Read the guide. Create checklists of questions and features and bring them with you to each home you look at. Write down everything. In the end, it will aid you objectively find the perfect home for you and your family.