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The most important aspect of purchasing a home is having an expert on your side. The average home owner may purchase two or three homes in their lifetime. Real estate professionals know how to navigate through the potential pitfalls of purchasing a home. They can help you avoid costly mistakes such as: choosing the wrong lender, the wrong type of home, failing to get a thorough home inspection and problems with the title. Any of these problems can cause you a lot of money and grief.

Do not buy a home without a real estate agent to represent your best interests. The seller pays your real estate agent’s fees. Buying a home through an agent that represents your best interests costs you nothing and can save you thousands.

Here are some of the most common mistakes buyers make, which often costs thousands of dollars, large investments of time and loads of grief:

1. Plan Before You Purchase.

Purchasing a home is an emotional experience. Make sure to sit down with your real estate agent and map out a strategy. Don’t let just one aspect of the home drive your decision. Try to answer the following questions.

• Where would you like to live? How far do I want to commute?
• How much home can I afford? Get pre-approved!
• What type of home do you want?

Come out of this exercise comfortable with your area and your mortgage.

2. Get The Right Lender.

There are many types of loans available and getting the right one for your situation is crucial. There are also many lenders vying for your business. Some are online and some local. Getting a good local lender is crucial. Your real estate agent should be able to make recommendations from lenders they have experience with. A good lender will make sure you get the right loan and rate.

3. Identify Your Opportunities.

If you’re looking for a deal, you need to know where they are. You real estate agent is a excellent resource for finding deals. They work in your market and probably know of several sellers that may have special circumstances. These circumstances could be divorce, relocation or loss of job. Work with your agent on this and you may be able to save yourself thousands.

4. Get A Good Home Inspector.

Just like any profession, there are both good and bad inspectors. Bad inspectors tend to overlook a lot of problems. You want an inspector that will scrutinize every aspect of your home. Your real estate agent knows the industry and can recommend good inspectors. You do not want to purchase a home that has structural or other serious defects because the home inspector overlooked them. This could cost you big!

5. Not Getting Clear Title.

Purchasing a home with a “clouded” title can be both financially and emotionally draining. Learning after the fact the previous owner still owed contractors money for the finished basement on your property which is now a lien against your property causes a lot of grief. Your real estate agent will help you purchase title insurance and make sure the title to the property is free and clear.

6. Don’t Waste Time.

Home buyers can waste valuable hours in front of computers searching for homes online. Most times the homes you find are not the best deals. Let your real estate agent save you that time to spend on what is important to you like your friends, family and work. Let your agent find the right home and notify you when it’s available.

7. Don’t Forget About Resale.

It is very easy to forget about resale when you are house hunting. As you tour homes, try to put yourself into the perspective of a seller. There may be some quirky characteristics that draw you, but homes with only one closet may be hard to resell when the time comes. When you buy you should also be thinking about the time it comes to sell.

8. Do Go Back and Check the Neighborhood.

Most home buyers do their shopping on the weekends. But what happens there on the weekdays or after dark? Does the passing street fill up with cars during commute times? Do the neighbors have their stereos blaring? The only way to answer these questions is by checking the neighborhood at various times.

9. Do the Final Walk through.

Not completing the final walkthrough can be a crucial mistake. Before closing, make sure you check to see any requested repairs have been completed. Make sure there is no damage you were unaware of and that nothing else has changed. Any problems after the purchase are yours.

10. Not Buying at All.

If you can afford to purchase a home and don’t actually purchase a home, you will lose out on tax deductions, appreciation in the value of the home and the generation of home equity. Not buying, when you can is perhaps the worst mistake of all.

It is no secret that property investment  is one of the major keys to accumulating wealth, especially in the Australian property market. It seems that almost every day the media highlights one success story after another of investors who have enjoyed spectacular gains through dealing in property.

The stock market and other investment strategies are also highlighted from time to time but the spectacular falls experienced by stock market investors are often enough to dissuade many investors from this form of investing and so most Australians settle into property investment as if it were a national pastime.

During the global financial crisis panic struck the hearts of investors throughout the world and even property investors were spooked by the spectacular decreases in asset values occurring in the United States and Europe. In Australia however, the market was largely immune to the falls experienced overseas and it became evident that the most prudent investment strategies that included a large proportion of property were the ones to weather the storm with comparatively little trouble.

However, one element of the global financial crisis that affected property investment was the squeeze on credit. In effect, lenders lost the flexibility of interbank lending and left to rely upon their own assets which meant that there was a substantial drop in the availability of credit to fund purchases in the property market. Even with lowering interest rates there were still insufficient funds available to suit most investor’s plans and it is not surprising to discover that the property market stalled for several months.

The credit squeeze created quite a tough market but savvy investors who use the advice of their specialist property managers and finance brokers were still able to find ways through the maze and purchase properties at comparative bargain prices.

Those investors who had engaged the services of professional property investment advisers were, in the eyes of many lenders, in the best position to service a loan. It is for this reason they were given favourable treatment over this period and so, buying property in a tough market became a little easier.

This highlights the need for all investors to set up their strategy with professional assistance so that when the tough times come around again, as they inevitably will, they will be best placed to continue their strategy where other investors are forced to withdraw from the market. It is at these times when accumulation of wealth can be accelerated rather than retarded. Have the correct loan structures and cash flow buffers allows you to become wealthier, when others are panicking.

Remember, that 50% of the most successful investors in Australia have made their money through investing in property. Property worth $20,000 in 1975 is now worth close to $500,000. It is difficult to find any other investment that can match this rate of growth just by buying and holding.

The advantages of engaging the services of a property investment specialist are made clear when you examine these results in detail. Australians definitely have a love affair with bricks and mortar and when you understand the secrets and tax advantages of property investing you’ll understand why.