The 5 biggest mistakes made by first-time buyers

I know. I've been there. That feeling of invincibility when you find the house of your dreams. It can make you overlook so many faults. I definitely do not regret our purchase. However, I might have gone into "it's an old home but it's new to us"  home ownership with eyes wide open instead of jumping in quasi-blindly!

You see lists everywhere about what you should and shouldn't do when shopping for a house. Some are common sense. Some, not so much. Here is my personal top 5. . .

1) Be honest with yourself about projects. Figure out how much time you really want to spend on the house. If you find out that you are unwilling to give up every weekend to do house projects, could you afford to pay someone to do it for you? If not, are you willing to spread the work over more years? If not, WALK AWAY. There will be another house out there for you. You don't want to look back at the last 10 years of your life and regret having spent it with a drill and paint brush in your hand.

2) Find an agent who understands your needs. You need someone who will sit down with you and help you figure out what you are looking for. Let us do the work! We spend our lives immersed in real estate so you don't have to!

3) Don't be afraid of change. It's normal. You thought you'd love living in a cape, but after walking through a few of them, realize that it doesn't work for you. Tell your agent! It's perfectly ok to adjust what you're looking for during the process.

4) Do your homework. Learn as much as you can about the neighbourhood you're looking at moving into. Talk to the neighbours. Check out traffic during different times of the day. Is it near an airport? What about train tracks? You're investing a lot of money - don't be afraid to invest a little time too!

5) Don't overspend. Sit down with a financial adviser if you are not comfortable putting together a budget yourself. Regardless of how much your lending institution is willing to lend you, let that not stop you from making sure that you can support not only the new mortgage payment, but also able to maintain the level of lifestyle you want.

What are some other traps to avoid? What is your personal experience? I would love to hear about them!