30 Hard-Earned Lessons Shared By First-Time Home Buyers

According to Davis, from SparkRental.com, homebuyers should understand the concept of 'breakeven horizon.' "Owning a home comes with tens of thousands of dollars in closing costs, some on the front end when you buy and others on the back end when you sell. It takes years for a home to appreciate enough in value to offset those costs," he explained to Bored Panda.

"Exactly how long will depend on your local market conditions over the next few years. But as a general rule, expect it to take 3-7 years on average for you to break even on your home. That makes homeownership a long-term commitment. Only buy a home if you plan to live there for at least five years or so. Otherwise, you’re probably better off continuing to rent and enjoying the flexibility it provides," he said.

Davis suggested that homebuyers keep their future needs in mind, not just their current ones, when choosing a home. "If you plan to have children, that urban rowhome might not make sense. Likewise, if your kids are about to leave the nest, it may not make sense to buy a large suburban home. If you aren’t 100% sure about a city or neighborhood, try renting there for a year first to make sure you want to commit long-term. How do you feel about the noise level? Traffic? Commutes? Safety? Walkability? Taxes?"

He advised that you should spend a week renting an Airbnb in the prospective neighborhood if you can't spend a year living there. "Get a sense for what it’s like to live within a few blocks where you’re thinking about buying. Live your regular routine as much as possible, including both workdays and weekends," he told Bored Panda in an email.

We asked Davis how someone can be sure that a property is 'good enough' for them. He said this holds true if a property meets all of your needs and most of your reasonable wants.

"Get extremely clear on both. Write them out alongside your partner and then prioritize your wants. Make sure you and your partner are both on the same page, and if you’re not, keep negotiating until you get to a place where you can both live with the compromises—without resenting the other partner," the co-founder of SparkRental.com explained.

"Finally, scope out the local schools well before buying, if you have school-age children. Physically visit the schools, talk to the administrators and teachers. Speak with parents whose kids go there. Post in local community forums asking parents for their candid feedback. Check the ratings on Greatschools.org."

If you’re flabbergasted by property prices in your local area, you always have the option of buying homes in Italy for just one euro (a little over a dollar). CNN reports that in Penne, Italy’s Abruzzo region, you can buy abandoned homes extremely cheaply if you commit to restyling them. The goal is to stop the depopulation in the area.

“The only requirement is that buyers commit to restyling these houses in three years, but we ask for no downpayment guarantee to start the works. We really want to encourage and support those who come to revive the ancient neighborhood,” Penne’s mayor, Gilberto Petrucci, told CNN.

“We have a team of architects and experts who may advise and support in the renovation works, finding builders and surveyors, showing buyers through renderings what their home will look like once fixed, and advising throughout the renovation stages,” the mayor added.

The starting cost to do some basic restyling for a small to medium-sized house, according to Petrucci, is around 20k euros (nearly 21.7k dollars at the time of writing).

The thing to keep in mind when buying homes—and, well, doing pretty much anything else in life—is that there is no such thing as ‘perfection.’ It’s good to have standards and to know what you want in life. However, you have to be practical, reasonable, and flexible when you can’t get exactly what you want.

If you keep chasing perfection, you might ignore other high-quality opportunities that come your way. You need to consider whether the house or apartment matches most of the qualities you want without focusing too much on the tiny details. If the core aspects of the home are good (the foundation, plumbing, wiring, etc.) and it feels like a good long-term investment, you shouldn’t get too hung up on the color of the walls or that the layout doesn’t 100% match your daydreams.

In a similar vein, if the house is decently priced, near good schools, close to work, and in a safe neighborhood, that’s what matters more than the molding or roof tiles being a different style than you want. If you have enough spare resources and willpower, you’ll be able to change those details to your liking after you’ve bought the home. But for now, focus on the essentials.

Again, it’s good to have standards and you shouldn’t buy the first thing that comes your way. You need to put in the time and energy to do a thorough inspection of the property (hire a professional if you don’t have any experience here) and the neighborhood.

But whatever happens, it’s likely that your first home won’t be your dream home. Eventually, you’ll look for other properties, especially if you start making more money, have to move for work, or decide to start a family. Your needs and wants will change, so you’ll look into buying a home elsewhere.