Here’s a review of some of the most common pitfalls and advice on how you can avoid them all.

Wasting your Time

If you’ve drawn up an interest list of 89 houses in the area you wish to move to, don’t even think about going to view every one of them. This will just be a huge waste of your time. The Internet is a great time saver when you’re house hunting as all realtors have websites these days. There you will find up to date listings with prices and full details of the property.

You will also be able to look at a photo gallery of the interior and exterior of each house. Some properties will even allow a virtual video tour.

This is a great place to begin the search for your dream home because you can eliminate your least favorite properties without ever having to visit them. You can avoid this mistake and save time by visiting www.STLRealEstatellc.com and starting your house hunting online.

Going Beyond your Budget

Calculate your budget and stick to it, no matter how much more appealing those slightly more expensive homes look. If you end up buying a house that’s beyond your budget, you could end up wrecking your finances down the road and losing your home in the process.

Don’t let the real estate agent talk you into moving up to the next level. You have to have some leeway so you can be prepared for future changes in your finances and the demands on them. 

Not Planning Adequately for a Showing

Many house hunters make the mistake of scheduling too many views within a short period of time. Allow yourself plenty of time to tour each house and traveling time between viewings. Eat before you go, so you don’t get distracted by hunger pains. Wear comfortable shoes because you’re going be on your feet for a long time.

Don’t take the children. If you can’t leave them with a family member, hire a babysitter. You don’t want to have to deal with a cranky toddler when you’re house hunting.

Not Looking at Everything

Don’t be afraid to examine every nook and cranny. Some people walk through without paying full attention. This is a big mistake. Open every cabinet, closet and drawer. Look behind doors, open every nook and cranny. Don’t risk missing a thing. Look for damp spots, mold, leaks in ceilings and on tile floors. Check attic ventilation.

Have an inspector check plumbing and electric systems in case the previous homeowners have made amateur repairs that are not up to code. Take a walk around the outside of the house and check that there is no water pooling in the yard around the house, garage and any other buildings. If there is, this is a sign of inadequate drainage.

Overlooking Certain Faults

So you’ve found a house that you’re starting to fall in love with, but it has a few issues. Depending on what these are, they could be costly or even impossible to fix. Don’t ignore them. If you’re really not sure about the condition of the house, have it inspected.

If it fails to make the grade, walk away. Be patient. There are large amounts of property listings available in your area and more being added every day. Don’t make the mistake of going for the first house you like if it’s not up to par.

Dragging your Feet

When you’ve finally made a decision on a house you truly want to live in, don’t take too long to seal the deal, or you might just lose it. If this happens you’ll be back to square one and you’ll have to spend even more time searching for another house.

Buying a new home is a big and important decision and one that should be well thought out and carefully executed, but if you’re committed, you have to be prepared for the moment to take the plunge.

Just by following these simple tips you can avoid some of the worst mistakes that many home buyers make. This will save you time and money and significantly reduce the stress factor of hunting for a new home.

Archie Coles works as a real estate agent and shares his home-buying, and selling, tips around the net.

Tours, Listings and Agents: Common House Hunting Mistakes and How to Avoid Them is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Despite all that, or maybe because of it, I learned a lot about life, love, and apartment hunting that year and I was able to do much better when I got ready to pick out my next apartment at the end of my lease.

Here are a few things I learned the hard way, but you should know before you go hunting for your first apartment.

Your Realistic Budget and The Market

When my fiance and I started looking for our first apartment, we had a budget of $600/month in mind for a 1-2 bedroom apartment. (Where we came up with that I have no idea as neither of us actually had a written monthly budget.) After viewing nearly 30 properties and making calls all over town, we realized that this was definitely on the low end for an apartment in our college town.

Luckily, after looking for a few weeks we were able to find an apartment with utilities included for $620/month.

If I could do this over again, I would have a better idea of what I could reasonably afford because I would have a written monthly budget for all of my money, much like I do now. I would also do some research to find out what the going-rate for apartments is in the community.

Check Up on Property Management Company

The property management company I ended up renting that first apartment from was a nightmare to deal with. They managed a lot of property in the town and it was clear that they had more than they could adequately manage. When I moved in I was told the apartment had already been cleaned, and yet it was disgusting! I ended up cleaning it myself and then when I left at the end of the lease I cleaned it very well and still had to forfeit most of my deposit as it wasn’t up to their “standards.”

Additionally, I had to have them come in for repairs and maintenance twice that year due to normal wear and tear. Despite the fact that things broke/wore out from normal use I was charged a huge amount for the repair. Rather than fight with them about it after I’d already moved out (as one of them happened the last week of my lease), I just paid the fee.

These are all reasons why you should check up on the property management company to find out their reputation before you rent your first apartment.

Decide What You Can and Can’t Live Without

Due to my tight budget for that first apartment, I had to go without some things I never thought I’d miss. I had no dishwasher that year. I know, I know #firstworldprobs, but I seriously missed having a dishwasher! I also had a terribly scary spot in the wood floor in the living room where the sub-floor was rotted through so the floor sagged quite a bit.

Another thing I had to put up with was not having a door to my bedroom. I never thought about it until after I moved it, but a door would’ve been nice since the bedroom was right off the kitchen.

If I could do it over again I’d make a list of my “must haves” and some things I’d like but could live without. This list proved useful when I rented my second apartment as it had both a bedroom door and a dishwasher.

The biggest lesson here is to do your research well ahead of time before you rent your first apartment so you know what to expect. Talk to some of your college friends who already live in an apartment to find out about rental rates, property companies, and more. You should also do some research online to find out more about the property company you are renting from.

Where ever you are in the world, whether you are looking for Yorkville condos for rent in Toronto or even apartments for rent in Winnipeg, looking for someplace to live takes time, some serious digging, and knowing exactly what you want (location, size, cost).

Live and learn I guess!

Have you ever rented an apartment? What did you learn by renting your first apartment?

What to Look For in a First Apartment is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Since we moved into our house, a few things have changed in our lives, including the cities that we both work in (cutting down on the commute for both of us), a few financial goals and a few bills. On top of those things, we got engaged and are getting married in just a couple of months. We’re going on a long honeymoon and home ownership has not hindered us from doing these things in the slightest.

Here are a few first impressions of home ownership:

Home ownership is both more and less expensive than I thought it would be

I thought that we would have to make some sacrifices for home ownership. We factored lifestyle into our budget when we were looking at buying our house, and while we realized that we wouldn’t be giving anything up as we had been aggressively saving for home ownership when we were doing this budget, we thought we’d have to put travel and other plans on hold to reach our goal.

We moved into our new home in (very) late 2012, and 2013 was my most well-travelled year yet. I visited Winnipeg, New Orleans, Toronto, Niagara and Chicago. I ramped up the spending in other areas, such as my websites and entertainment, and of course home maintenance.

Turns out we didn’t have to give up as much as I thought we would

Our bills are much lower than what we budgeted for; we thought natural gas and electricity would be much more costly, but turns out that our wood burning fireplace saves us a pretty penny on heating, and we don’t use much more electricity.

One thing that shocks me for being more expensive than I thought it would be is spending on the house. Yard care is quite costly, as are all of the little reno projects we’ve taken on.

There’s no place like home

I had a bad attitude toward renting, and I still do. My preference was always to get into my own home. As somebody who is a complete homebody, I never felt in my element in somebody else’s place. That being said, there was part of me that got cold feet when I was signing the papers to take possession of the house. After all, I am a notoriously antsy person. I need constant change and excitement in my life; it’s part of who I am. I wondered whether the permanency of home ownership was right for me; would I want to get up and move somewhere new in a matter of months?

All of that worrying was for naught. It turns out that I only had a penchant for moving around so much because no place I ever lived in felt like home. I can’t imagine moving out of our house at this point. I truly love being at home, love entertaining and having people over, and there is nothing better than coming back home after a long day or a trip.

It’s a big commitment, but not that big

Signing the papers, I remember thinking about how big of a commitment it is to buy a house. Unlike renters, home owners can’t just up and leave or move or even quit their jobs that easily.

I have to put a lot more thought and consideration into the things that I do that would impact my financial life. I can’t just quit my job without anything lined up, or leave on an extended trip without a lot of planning.

The commitment is a big one, but having a house does not exclude me from doing the things that I want to do (whatever those things are). I’ve been reminded that, should we want to live somewhere else for awhile, we can always rent the rest of the house out. There’s always the freedom to sell if something changes (though this is not the best financial decision).

Options for freedom are still there; they didn’t go away when we bought the house.

Owning a home is a lot of work

I had a notion of this going into it, since my parents had always owned homes when I was growing up, and we were on chore duty. I think you don’t quite realize how much work you do on your house until you go away for a period of time.

We went away for a week recently and noticed how crazy the weeds had gotten. We don’t make a big production of pulling weeds every single weekend, but I guess because we were gone and couldn’t just pull a weed when we noticed it from the garden as we walked by, they added up.

The lawn needs to be mowed regularly, bark mulch needs to be distributed, the house needs regular cleaning. Things like gutters and garage doors and driveways need to be maintained. Who knew that a pressure washer would come in handy like it does?

If you don’t have the capacity for extra work, don’t own a home!

I love our home and yes, I even love yardwork. I know, I’m nuts. Home ownership is certainly not for everybody, but it’s definitely for us and I couldn’t be happier with our humble abode.

Our 5 First Impressions of Home Ownership is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Maybe it’s that we all know what it’s like to rent, so it’s easy for us to imagine what it would be like to be on the other side of the equation. It’s probably easier for us to picture ourselves finding tenants and fixing up issues on a home than it is to fathom researching investments extensively.

Owning rental units and collecting rents isn’t usually true passive income, however.

What is Passive Income?

Passive income is money acquired by doing.. well, nothing.

If you have to work for your income, it’s not passive. Examples of passive income include income made through interest payments from investments, and a few other methods.

Examples of active income (as I like to call it) include the income that you earn from your day job or business, and income you earn from selling things or your side hustles (such as freelancing, or contracting your services).

Why Isn’t Landlording Passive?

Becoming a landlord can take some work upfront and during the term of your tenant’s sublet. While renting out rental units requires less time typically than a 9-5 job, and is less labour intensive, you are still not making completely passive income.

There are a few things you must do prior to becoming a landlord, including finding the rental property, finding the right buy to let mortgage, researching rental statistics in your area, staging your new rental property for maximum price, showing the unit, screening applicants for potential tenants and finally, working with your new tenants to get them moved in.

After you are officially a landlord, you are responsible for any repairs, service calls and complaints that your tenants have, unless you hire a service to do that for you (but they tend to cost a pretty penny).

This can be very rewarding work, but it doesn’t fit the definition of passive.

Re-Looking at Renting as a Passive Income Stream

Just because being a landlord isn’t passive income, doesn’t mean it’s not a great way to earn income. After all, you have more time to yourself typically, than somebody who works a 9-5 job. You can also set your own hours and build great relationships with tenants to ensure a long-lasting tenancy.

If you have tenants who have been in your unit for a long period of time and have no intention of moving, the work of landlording can become much more passive as time goes on. They still may call you if the dishwasher breaks, but the work is often front-loaded when it comes to actually finding the tenants and screening them, plus fixing up the place for the next set.

Have you ever considered becoming a landlord? Have you considered it passive income?

Becoming a Landlord for Passive Income is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Fast forward into adulthood and living in an apartment makes me lose faith in humanity.

Guys, humans are ANNOYING.

In the past five years of apartment living, I’ve lived in a wide variety. Nice, new buildings, apartments in houses, houses converted into apartments, and old, not so nice buildings. It doesn’t matter what type of building you live in, the annoyingness of human beings just can’t be escaped.

Apartment living sucks!

I get it. I’m annoying too. I bark and growl (loudly) at my dog when we play. Sometimes, I play music really loud when I’m cleaning on Sunday mornings and I’m sorry, but if your clothes are hanging out in the dryer all dry but taking up space, I’m the woman that will take it out (underwear and all) and dump it on the top of the machine so that I can use the machine. Get over it.

But man, my neighbors have really taken the cake. Apartment living is what makes me hate renting so, unbelievably much.

As proof that apartment living sucks, I have, in the span of 4 years, had neighbors that have done or currently do the following:

• I used to live under a drug-dealer couple and their young baby. They would have drug induced parties where they would laugh, at the same pitch, volume, and inflection for ten minutes straight (loudly) at 2:00 AM, with their baby screaming and shut in the next room (the one right above us) and nobody tending to it. And I was told by many people that it would be inappropriate to call CPS.

• A building that J and I lived in had a property manager who was in his 50’s, dating a girl with whom I went to school. He met her because she was his daughter’s roommate. They spent that summer drinking at the pool and he fired all of the groundskeepers in a drunken rage one day. He didn’t hire new ones and that winter, when trying to go down to the underground parking, somebody slid into the garage door because we didn’t have anyone to shovel or salt the driveway.

• A building wherein every Sunday morning, 7:00 AM sharp, like clockwork, a grown man would stand outside by his truck, right outside our balcony doors, and barf.

• This same building, and the same man, would frequently put porn on his 70+” TV screen (which faced the window) and leave the blinds up. And watch it. During the day.

• A building with two dogs that lived above us that never shut up. They also had a habit of pooping by the door that separated us and their apartment, which was neither sound nor smell proof.

• A neighbor who, in a crack-induced fit, yelled at his girlfriend upstairs that he was going to throw her off of the balcony. That fight lasted for over 11 hours, until I called the cops.

• An upstairs neighbour who passed out drunk with the taps still on, causing flooding in his kitchen and therefore our dining room. We woke up at 3:00 AM because the light fixtures were pouring water. When we went upstairs to figure out what was going on, he answered the door naked, left it open, and went back to bed.

• A neighbour who knocked on our door to asked if we had $20 to spare.

While I’m living in these torture boxes, I can’t help but constantly dream about moving into a single family dwelling and getting out of apartments. Truly, apartment living sucks!

What about you – how do you feel about apartment living? Do you think apartment living sucks?

Why Apartment Living Sucks is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.