Are you looking for some great home search tips to help your home buying journey? Then you’ve come to the right place. 

In this piece, we’ve divided our pointers according to Do’s and Don’ts. Whether you’re a veteran buyer or a newbie looking for a home buying guide for beginners, we hope you find these insights informative.

Your Essential Guide for Home Purchases

3 Home Buyer Mistakes You Can Avoid 

#1 Getting Too Attached to Home Choices Beyond your Budget 

Who doesn’t like daydreaming about owning your own vacation home in Alabang complete with extra guest houses and other amenities? While it’s a perfectly normal pastime, getting attached to them should have no place during your home search. 

Not only does it set unreasonable expectations for yourself, thereby delaying your search unnecessarily, it also brings up other issues. Home sellers who may think you’re serious about putting an offer, may be inconvenienced when they learn you don’t have the capital.

You may even end up putting a downpayment on a home you can’t keep. This is the kind of scenario that will at worst drain your capital, and at best, inconvenience you for some time. 

#2 Rushing Into Buying a House 

If you’re asking how to buy a house fast, you may be asking yourself the wrong question. 

Real estate marketing provides all sorts of ways to make you feel the urgency in each offer. But beyond just taking advantage of any sweet discounts, you still need to be sure the property is right for you. 

So if the seller starts putting pressure on you, don’t be afraid to say no. The last thing you want is to be left with a property that you aren’t ready for. 

#3 Forgetting to Budget for Home Maintenance and Other Move-in Costs 

A common misconception is that you don’t have to worry about maintenance yet for newly-built homes, whether it’s a condo or a house. While there’s usually less to worry about, there are still factors that you and the seller may overlook. 

Clogging in the drainage and roofing problems may occur months after the initial sale, due to unplanned circumstances like flooding in the area. Maybe your flooring warps due to the unique way that moisture accumulates in the home. These are the types of things that you need to keep in mind as you’re choosing your new home. 

3 Best Ways to Buy a Home

#1 Think About Your Future Home’s Resale Value 

Even if you’re just buying a home for yourself, it’s still something you have to think about. Do you think you’ll still be living in the area ten to twenty years from now? Or will you be moving abroad? 

If you think you need a little more leeway, then it’s probably best to buy a home with good access to roads and establishments. At the same time you want to take note of any future developments in the area that may drive your home’s price up by the time you sell. 

#2 Consider Buying into Other Home Types 

Perhaps you’ve already made up your mind about what home you want. Let’s say a nice two-story house in a prime location like Mandaluyong. But maybe you should expand your home options a bit, especially if the price points aren’t really matching your budget expectations. 

For example, if you’re in love with the idea of having a typical garden setup to grow unpotted plants, then this might naturally exclude many condo options. However, you can still try looking at apartments and townhomes that may allow communal gardening for its residents. 

#3 Choose Properties that are Recommended By Trusted Sources 

This wouldn’t be a complete list of essential tricks to buying a house if we didn’t outline some of the risks as well. 

In 2021, the then-current Philippine Housing Secretary actually stated that thousands of Filipinos were getting scammed in the real estate market every year. With those kinds of statistics, it becomes ever more important to be able to filter out properties with underlying issues and/or fraudulent middlemen involved. 

If you already have a trusted broker or contact, then that’s great. But if you don’t, it’s usually best to turn towards accredited real estate platforms that can handle those needs. 

A good example would be a platform such as RealHolmes where each property is vetted and approved carefully by certified real estate professionals. It’s here where buyers can actually reserve and buy properties of their choice and conduct the entire transaction virtually online. At any time they will be allowed to assess the property via virtual and onsite means. 

By undergoing such a process you no longer need to worry about bad actors or overlong processes. You can just pick out your dream home with less worry about any future risks.