Five Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Bought a House

Like many other homeowners, I researched the heck out of buying my first home: what to look for in a house and location, what kind of mortgage to get, programs for first-time home buyers, what to ask the sellers, and so on. I learned a lot, but mostly it’s the stuff I missed and didn’ t expect in the home buying process that I remember the most. These are the five biggest ones.

 

1. You Don’t Have to Buy a Home

When I was growing up, home ownership was a given, just like getting a college education, getting married, and having kids. I remember helping my father work on houses he rented out as investments and hearing that property was one of the best, most reliable investments you can make because it was scarce—after all, you can’t make more land. (That is, until we start colonizing Mars and the rest of the universe.) After years of writing rent checks, I agreed. Why give all that money to a landlord when you could instead put it towards your own place?

READ MORE: http://lifehacker.com/five-things-i-wish-i-had-known-before-i-bought-a-house-1152993672

 

 

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