5 Mistakes I See New Homeowners Make
The first-year mistakes that cost the most — and how to spot them before you close, not after.
- first-time buyers
- homeowners
- advice
After hundreds of closed transactions, you see the same first-year mistakes again and again. They’re almost never about the house itself — they’re about the decisions made in the 60 days around closing. Here are the five I see most often, and what I tell my own clients to do instead.
1. Buying the most expensive house you qualify for
Your lender will pre-approve you for a number. That number is not your budget — it’s your ceiling. The difference between qualifying for $1.2M and comfortably affording $1.2M is roughly $4,000 a month in real life — property taxes, insurance, maintenance, the surprise sewer line, the HVAC that fails in year three. I tell every buyer to stress-test their budget against a ceiling 15–20% below their pre-approval. The house feels just as good. The next five years feel a lot better.
2. Skipping the second inspection
The general home inspection is table stakes — every buyer gets one. The second inspection is the one that pays for itself: a roof specialist, a foundation specialist, or a sewer scope, depending on the property. A $400 sewer-line scope has saved my clients from $40,000 mistakes more than once. If a property is older than 1980, scope the sewer. If a property is in the foothills, get a foundation read. The marginal cost is nothing compared to the optionality you buy.
3. Not negotiating the seller credit instead of the price
Most buyers reflexively negotiate purchase price. Sometimes a seller credit at the same effective price gets you a better outcome — lower closing costs out of pocket, or money you can put toward an interest rate buy-down. The math varies by situation. The point is: there are usually multiple levers, and the obvious one isn’t always the best one. Your agent should be walking you through the options, not just lobbing in a counter on price.
4. Underestimating year-one maintenance
Plan for 1–3% of your purchase price in maintenance and improvements in the first year. On a $1M house, that’s $10–30K. Some of it’s pure maintenance (servicing the HVAC, repainting). Some of it’s personalization (paint colors, light fixtures, a new range). Some of it’s the thing the inspection report flagged that you decided to deal with after closing. Budget for it before you move in, not after.
5. Not reading the HOA documents
If your home has an HOA, read every page of the CC&Rs and the most recent budget. Look for: reserve fund balance (is the HOA broke?), pending special assessments, recent rule changes, and the actual list of what’s covered. I’ve watched buyers move in expecting "the HOA handles the roof" only to find out the roof is owner-responsibility from page 47 of the bylaws. The boring documents are where the surprises live.
None of these are exotic. They’re the basics that get skipped because the process feels overwhelming and the timeline feels tight. The job of a good agent is to slow you down where it counts and move fast where it doesn’t. If you’re buying in any of my markets — SGV, LA, OC, Palm Springs, or San Diego — I’d love to help you avoid all five.