House hunting is known to be a process that’s uniquely exciting and panic-inducing. For Canadian luxury buyers, the stakes are high! In this overwhelming situation, it can be easy to neglect details, jump the gun or listen to the wrong advice. Here are some of the most common mistakes we see luxury buyers making during the house hunting process.
Visiting open houses without your agent. When a luxury home pops up with an open house invite on short notice, it can be tempting to want to pay it a visit. However, going without your agent has two main potential fallouts. Firstly, the selling agent is motivated to sell and is likely to focus on the home’s positive attributes. It’s easy to fall in love when you’ve painted a strategic picture of a home’s better features. Having your agent on site also involves a neutral third party, who will be able to offer a practical and experienced point of view.
Putting too much emphasis on photos. Most luxury homes photograph pretty well. From sparkling blue lap pools to grand staircases that curve upwards, it’s not difficult to showcase a luxury home’s better side. Putting too much emphasis on photos, however, without considering elements like future plans for the neighbourhood, comparisons to other buildings or homes in the area, and whether the features align with your ideal lifestyle, could cost you down the road.
Not taking the whole neighbourhood into consideration. While it can be easy to focus on gorgeous elements of a home itself, when you buy a home, you also buy the entire neighbourhood in a sense. Before you make an offer, understand the area’s demographics, any urban development plans that might impact your home’s value (either positively or negatively) and values of other homes in the neighbourhood.
