What Is Defamation Of Character?

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Defamation is an all-inclusive word for statements that damage a person’s reputation in the community. Defamation that occurs in the written form is called “libel,” and defamation that is spoken is called “slander.” Defamation is not a criminal wrong, but it is a civil wrong known as a “tort” in the language of the law.

California defamation law requires that the victim must prove that the alleged act of defamation meets the following criteria before they can sue for damages:

> The statement must be published meaning that a third party saw or heard the statement. The term published does not mean that the statement was printed in a book. It means that the statement was made public by either the electronic medium or some type of printed medium and it tends to lower the reputation of the victim in their community.

> The statement must be false, and it must be proven to be false. The statement must be made as a fact. An opinion cannot be considered false because opinions cannot be proved to be objectively false.

> The statement must be injurious. Defamation law requires that the victim prove actual harm such as the loss of a job, being treated rudely by neighbors and friends because of the statement, or that they suffered from false press reports that were based on the statement. Proving falsity is a complex matter and the advice of an experienced attorney should be sought.

> There should be no doubt in the mind of the average person that the statements refer to the victim.

Most witnesses are protected from a law suit. Statements made by witnesses who make a false statement in court or during a deposition cannot be sued for defamation. The law protects a witness because fear should not constrain them.

Defamation is an act of libel if the defamer published a defamatory statement about a person in a written or another form, and other people became aware of the statement. The law does not impose any other criteria because it is assumed that when a defamatory statement has been made in a written or other form, it will remain injurious for a long time. Again, this is also a complex matter and the advice of an attorney should be sought.

A private person who is defamed has more protection than public figures have. A private person who is suing for defamation can prevail without having to prove that they were defamed by a person acting with actual malice. This means that the defamer can be sued if they have failed to check the accuracy of their statement and acted in an otherwise negligent manner.

It is essential that proving defamation in California must meet the above elements or criteria by a preponderance of the evidence. This means that the evidence shows that it is more likely than not that each element or criteria is met.

Defamation of character is a complex principle in California law, and it is essential that an attorney reviews each fact that tends to support a claim of defamation.

Bodily Injury Due To Dangerous Conditions On Property

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If you have suffered a bodily injury due to dangerous conditions on property, you may be entitled to receive compensation by filing a California premises liability lawsuit. The basis for this lawsuit includes but is not limited to liability arising from construction accidents, dog bites and injuries caused by the willful and negligent conduct that resulted in dangerous conditions; this includes home owners. The dangerous condition must have created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the type that resulted in your injuries. This includes the wrongful or negligent conduct of an employee while performing their job responsibilities.

It is essential that the party deemed liable owned and had possession and control of the premises. This party has a duty to others to take reasonable action to make the premises safe and to prevent people from being injured. A greater duty is owed to children because they lack the capacity to understand the dangers.

Owners of property are under an obligation to prevent the condition of a risk of harm to people who come onto the land. If the owner failed to warn or repair the dangerous condition, then this inaction constitutes negligence. A store owner is obligated to ensure that the premises which are open to shoppers are safe. The owner must take action which is commensurate with the risk.

Owners of premises where the activities of others may result in injury to an invitee has an obligation to control the wrongful acts of a third person. This obligation is based on the premise that owner has the duty to exercise reasonable care in managing their property. This condition can arise when potential buyers are injured while looking at a property that is for sale. The property owner and the real estate agent have an obligation to protect the buyers from injury. Any property condition that is an unreasonable risk to people other than the owners must be repaired, or the agent and the buyers must be warned beforehand. California law is clear about the right of the buyer to file a lawsuit if the owner failed to eliminate a dangerous condition that created a reasonably foreseeable risk to the buyer.

Premises liability extends to dangerous property, retail store liability, restaurant liability, slip and fall accidents, and animal bites to name a few conditions where a person can be injured. If you believe that a dangerous premise condition was a significant reason for your injuries, then call the Von Esch Law Group to discuss your condition. When you hire the Von Esch Law Group real estate attorney you will have an attorney who is completely familiar with the real estate laws and the obligation of owners to protect people who visit their property. The California real estate code is specific about the responsibility of property owners. The Von Esch Real Estate Department is highly experienced in handling premise liability cases.

How Real Estate Attorneys Can Help You

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Those in the real estate business know that it only takes one bad transaction to mess you up completely. It helps to be diligent and exercise caution in all your real estate endeavors. To safeguard your interests, and prevent financial loss, it is highly recommended to work with a real estate lawyer who is knowledgeable of local laws. When seeking help on real estate law, Orange, California residents understand that they can count on Von Esch Law group for all their real estate law requirements. Here are a few matters that real estate attorneys handle.

They draft, review and negotiate real estate documents such as sale and purchase agreements, commercial or residential leases and many more. The attorneys represent parties who are involved in litigation. This normally happens when there is an eviction issue between a landlord and a tenant or when there are legal issues that are emerging between construction companies and owners of homes that are under construction. This may be because there are defects and other malfunctions in the property. Issues may also arise when the owner complains of poor workmanship by the contractor.

Von Esch Law Group helps to present a development proposal to the community where a project is to be undertaken. This is normally done in a community board hearing. Also, when a client wants to get a permission to obtain a variance or any other zoning relief, a real estate attorney can help make the necessary submission on behalf of the client.

Moreover, the legal service providers can represent a developer in a meeting with environmental management agencies when they want to prove that they have taken the required steps to satisfy environmental-due diligence procedures. Lawyers work with environmental experts in ensuring that the development project meets the stated environmental condition.

Von Esch Law Group offer valuable advice to those who want to develop joint projects where the community will share common interests. An example to this is when a condominium is being built and where there will be many shared facilities.

The attorneys provide valuable tax advice that will help their clients avoid unfavorable consequences in their transactions. For example, clients will need to understand what tax implications different forms of ownership have and also the effects that tax defer kind of transaction may offer.

In scenarios where there are disputes or disagreements and the matter end up in court, Von Esch Law Group will ensure that the interests of their clients are safeguarded. For instance, they will carry out an investigation about the underlying facts and call in a witness in the case.

For more information regarding Von Esch Law Group and their real estate law services, visit their website and Facebook page below!

http://www.voneschlaw.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Von-Esch-Law-Group/787869571246480?fref=ts

Tax Court Goes To Webster For Definition Of Construction – And Watch That NAICS Code

If you are involved in construction and reconstruction, you may get a better deal on your losses from rental real estate and beginning with 2013 avoid the Obamacare tax on gains from rental real estate.  But what exactly is construction and reconstruction?  The Tax Court had to look it up in the dicitionary.  Here’s the story.

Some Background

The stake in the heart of the tax shelter vampire provided by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 was Code Section 469 , which introduced the oxymoronic concept – passive activities.  Other sections of the Code, like those concerning S corporations discuss “passive income” – interest and dividends and the like, but such investment income is not the passive activity income that 469 refers to.  Passive activity income and more significantly loss comes from a trade or business activity in which you do not materially participate.  We are required to divide our trade or business income from proprietorships, partnerships and S Corporations into two buckets.  If the passive bucket is a net loss, the loss is suspended and carried forward to be used if there is passive income in the future or when the underlying activity is entirely disposed.

The rules about how you classify your activities and measure material participation are mind boggling in their complexity.  Don’t get me started.  There is one rule that created a lot of angst, though.  Rental activities are per se passive.  This was troubling to people in the real estate industry who might for example have rental losses on a development while making money on the sale of property.  So a special rule was created for people involved in real estate trades or businesses.  If you spend more than 750 hours per year in real estate trades or businesses and the amount of time that you spend in the real estate trades is greater than the amount of time you spending doing anything else, then the per se passive rental income rule does not apply to you.  Rental losses are not passive, if you materially participate in the related properties.

Not Easy For People With Day Jobs To Be Considered Real Estate Pros

For some reason, the IRS is particularly zealous in enforcing Code Section 469.  If you have substantial income and are posting losses from rental activities, you can put as many “I love Obama” signs on your lawn as you want and you still have a better than average chance of being challenged. At least that is my inference from the cases I read and some discussions with other practitioners.

The way the cases have broken, people with non-real estate day jobs who claim that they spend more time on their amateur landlord activity are almost always accused of having insufficient records of their time, “ballpark guestimates, a colorful term that the Tax Court seems to have reserved for 469 cases. Even in the cases where people have logs, they are often found to be improbable.   You don’t see “pants on fire” in the decisions, but you suspect the judges are whispering it under their breath.
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In Pennsylvania and beyond, teaching boys and men to prevent domestic violence

On a high school football field near Pittsburgh, an assistant coach tackled a topic unrelated to the upcoming game.

“One of the biggest components of being a man is how you treat females,” Kevin Murray told his players at Woodland Hills High. “We’d be doing you a very big disservice by not holding you accountable.”

At the jailhouse in High Point, North Carolina, a sterner version of that message is now given routinely to men detained for domestic-violence offenses and considered at risk of re-offending.

“We’re putting these guys on notice that domestic violence is not going to be tolerated here,” said Police Chief Marty Sumner. “The message is very clear: ‘We know who you are, we know what you’re doing. It has to stop.'”

The two programs target different audiences. But in the realm of domestic-violence prevention, where the record of success is spotty, they share a status as two of the nation’s most promising initiatives.

Coaching Boys Into Men is one of the flagship programs developed by Futures Without Violence, a nonprofit working to curb abuse of women and children. Thousands of high school coaches across the country, now joined by some middle school coaches, have received training in how to convey to their players the importance of treating young women with respect and avoiding abusive behavior.

The program has attracted the notice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The federal agency funded a three-year evaluation, involving more than 2,000 high school athletes in Sacramento County, California, which found that participating players were more likely to intervene to stop abuse and less likely to perpetrate it.

High Point’s program — the Offender-Focused Domestic Violence Initiative — was conceived in 2009 based on an approach developed by David M. Kennedy, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. While many programs focus on helping victims of domestic violence, High Point’s initiative targets the offender with a strategy of aggressive deterrence.

Since the program was fully implemented in 2012, the recidivism rate for domestic-violence offenders in High Point has been cut to about 9 percent, which the police department says is about one-third the national rate. There’s been one intimate-partner homicide since 2009, compared to 17 between 2004 and 2008.

“We’d get 5,000 domestic-violence calls a year — every year it’s our No. 1 call,” Chief Sumner said. “It gets passed on from generation to generation, but this program is a really good shot at breaking that cycle citywide.”

Efforts to raise awareness about domestic violence have been vigorously pursued in the U.S. for more than three decades. After Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, domestic violence committed by intimate partners — current or former spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends — declined by more than 60 percent over the next 10 years.

Since then, however, the numbers have stayed relatively flat.

Even as incidents involving National Football League players and other pro athletes refocus attention on domestic violence, leading prevention advocates say more resources and smarter strategies are needed to combat it.

“We now have a safety net for victims, we have the laws in place, judges who understand the seriousness of the issue,” said Esta Soler, president of Futures Without Violence. “We need to do more to prevent the problems, not just treat the problems.”

For decades, so-called batterer intervention programs have been one of the main forms of prevention, with offenders participating in group sessions aimed at promoting non-abusive behavior. A range of local programs have won praise — such as Wisdom Walk, which focuses on African-American men in Milwaukee, and Caminar Latino, which runs a 24-week program for Latino men in Atlanta.

However, research on the effectiveness of group intervention programs has produced mixed findings — causing some judges and probation officers to mandate that men participate, others saying there’s no evidence of success.

And what about the much-discussed programs in High Point and Pittsburgh? Here’s a closer look at each:

___

The new regimen in High Point, a city of about 107,000, kicks into gear whenever police respond to a domestic disturbance call. Even if there’s no arrest, and no previous record of domestic violence, the alleged aggressors receive another visit from a police officer within 48 hours and are notified that they are henceforth on a “watch list.”

With any subsequent domestic violence offense, there’s an escalating series of consequences, including a face-to-face warning from a detective at the time of arrest and — for some repeat offenders — a summons to appear in person before a panel of police, prosecutors and members of the community.

“In an hour, we explain how it’s going to be different,” Sumner said. “We will use any means to sanction you.”

The pressure tactics include threatening to classify any further domestic violence offense as a felony and to expedite prosecution of any other criminal case pending against the offender. Sumner’s department has found that many domestic-violence offenders have a record of other violent crimes, and uses those records to help decide which targets of the program might deserve extra scrutiny.

The community panel makes clear that the police will maintain their aggressive stance regardless of whether the offender’s victim plays an active role in any future case or seeks to stay out of it.

David Kennedy noted that in the traditional responses to domestic violence, the onus often was on the victim to report the abuse and testify about it in court, sometimes incurring threats and further violence in the process.

“We wanted to be able to say to the offender, ‘You’re dealing with us, you’re not dealing with her. The state is going to make you stop,'” Kennedy said. “The feedback from the women is, ‘You’ve got his attention. Things are better. Keep it up, and keep me out of it.'”

If victimized women do want services, they are offered through a Victim’s Justice Center that opened in April. It’s a one-stop site where victims can meet with police, get protective orders from legal aid attorneys, and be informed of other available services.

“In the past, it was up to the victim to do all the work while dealing with the threats,” said Tiffany Atkins, a domestic violence attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina. “Now we take the responsibility.”

Sumner said his department has been able to implement the program without increasing its budget — primarily by adding some new training and reassigning two detectives to specialize in domestic-violence cases.

Said Kennedy of the approach, “If you do it smart, it doesn’t need to be costly.”

___

If any high school was tailor-made for Coaching Boys Into Men, it might be Woodland Hills. It’s a perennial football powerhouse in western Pennsylvania, sending many of its players on to major college teams and even to the NFL. It also serves a 12-town district that includes some of greater Pittsburgh’s roughest neighborhoods.

“The community of kids we deal with — there are a lot of broken homes,” said Keith Davis, who attended the school and now, at 30, is in his third year on the football coaching staff.

“A lot of players have seen where their father has beaten their mother, beaten their sister — it’s no wonder they grow up the same way,” Davis said. “The program — they’re actually living it. In some schools, it might not hit home the way it did with us.”

Davis recalled how players followed news reports of the Steubenville, Ohio, case in which two high school football players were convicted last year of raping a 16-year-old girl after an alcohol-fueled party in 2012.

“A lot of our guys came back and said, ‘Coach, I’ve been in situations like that,'” Davis said. “We have to put a stop to it.”

Launched as a public service announcement campaign in 2001, Coaching Boys Into Men has since expanded to schools and coaches associations across the country — with new pilot programs this year involving coaches of 7th- and 8th-grade athletes. It’s based on the premise that young athletes will take exhortations from their coaches seriously, and then — as role models among their peers — will be taken seriously by other students as they re-think their attitudes about relationships and abuse.

“If you’re a student athlete, you’re also a student leader — respected by peers, by underclassmen, with a degree of influence and power,” said Alan Johnson, superintendent of the Woodland Hills School District. “You can be a leader for good, or a leader for bad. You have to make the decision which kind you’re going to be.”

One of the team’s top linemen on offense and defense, 265-pound senior Daniel Gibson, said the players, by taking the program to heart, had indeed had an influence on other students.

“Whatever we do, everyone else would like to do,” he said. “They get off on our vibe”

Another advocate of Coaching Boys Into Men is Wendell Say, head football coach for 35 years at Aiea High School near Honolulu. He’s been using the program for five years — it’s now a routine prelude to practices on Wednesdays.

“The curriculum is simple — it just takes 15 minutes at most, unless you let the kids talk,” Say said. “I sometimes take 45 minutes.”

Say says his players — many from low-income housing projects — often convey their firsthand knowledge of domestic violence. They’ve seen it in their family, or abused their own girlfriends, and they’ve also followed the domestic-violence cases involving Ray Rice and other NFL players.

“We still have kids who make wrong choices,” Say said. “But hopefully every year you learn more — a little understanding that just because you’re stronger doesn’t give you the right to hurt someone.”

The program — broken down thematically on a series of “training cards” — targets such behavior as catcalling and demeaning boasts about girlfriends. It also advises coaches on how to handle actual incidents of physical and sexual violence committed by team members.

The ethos is summed up in a pledge to be taken by players and coaches:

“I believe in treating women and girls with honor and respect. I know that violence is neither a solution nor a sign of strength. I believe that real men lead with conviction and speak out against violence against women and girls. I believe that I can be a role model to others by taking this pledge.”

http://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2014/11/in_pennsylvania_and_beyond_tea.html

What Does a Real Estate Lawyer Do?

Real estate lawyers document and review real estate transactions, including purchases, leases, inspections and appraisals. They also help resolve title insurance and environmental issues. When things go wrong in real estate transactions, real estate lawyers step in to file and defend lawsuits in court. Many real estate lawyers also help lenders carry out foreclosure, while others help borrowers defend against foreclosure.

Document Drafting

One of the key roles a real estate lawyer plays is that of document drafter. Real estate attorneys prepare deeds for conveyance transactions, leases and rental agreements, purchase contracts and financing agreements. While state law allows real estate agents to help clients fill out these types of documents, only licensed lawyers can actually draft and revise the documents.

Negotiations

Because real estate lawyers have sophisticated experience with many types of real estate transactions, clients often ask their real estate lawyer to negotiate the terms and conditions of real estate deals. This involves working with other attorneys, developers, brokers and investors.

Transaction Review

Some real estate attorneys are involved only in reviewing and providing advice on real estate transactions. Clients will negotiate their own deals, sign a contract and then ask the lawyer to perform the “due diligence” on the deal. This means the lawyer will examine legal title issues, environment issues and reports and any of the contracts or other documents involved in the transaction. Real estate lawyers have training that allows them to spot issues that their clients do not recognize. In this role, the real estate lawyer plays guardian for the clients to make sure the clients don’t fall into any unseen legal traps.

Litigation

Real estate transactions don’t always work out, and when they don’t, it is common to involve the court in a lawsuit. Real estate lawyers represent their clients in real estate litigation. This includes drafting legal pleadings to file with the judge, participating in hearings and trial with the judge, and filing appeals if necessary. It also includes bargaining with opposing counsel to try and work out settlement agreements.

Foreclosure

Many real estate attorneys specialize in mortgage and trust deed foreclosure, particularly during difficult economic times. Some lawyers represent lenders while others represent borrowers. The lawyers representing lenders help guide lenders correctly through the foreclosure process, which may include filing a lawsuit in court. The lawyers representing borrowers, on the other hand, try to make life difficult for the foreclosing lender by challenging any mistakes made in the foreclosure process, and by negotiating with the lender for a settlement agreement to stop the foreclosure process.

Real Estate Law

Real Estate and Property Law covers an extensive legal area, which is regulated by federal and state statutes, as well as common law. Many aspects of this area overlap with contract law. The terms “real estate”, “realty” and “real property” are generally used interchangeably, although many people associate “real estate” more closely with the structures or buildings and the land. However, real property/real estate encompasses more than just the obviously tangible aspects. It comprises land and that which is attached to or belongs with the land, such as the immovable structures like buildings, houses, trees, bushes and minerals permanently affixed to the land, But it also consists of the interests, benefits and rights that are legally considered attached to the real property, which can include certain rights to the air above the land, to drill in the ground beneath it, rights to live on the property for a specific timeframe or to acquire the real property in the future, and more.

The practice area of real estate and property law deals with a variety of related issues, including the following: rights and interests in real estate and real property; sales, purchases and other transfers of real estate and real property; legal aspects of rental property and landlord issues; tenants’, renters’ and homeowners’ rights; title to real property; settlement of claims against property rights; property development; zoning and land use; related agriculture issues; home loans and foreclosures; and various other relevant topics. This is a complex practice area, further complicated by the significant inconsistency in the laws throughout different cities and states. Real estate attorneys are versed in many different activities, from the mundane drafting of deeds and filing of liens, to handling boundary and zoning disputes and even assisting families in court when threatened with foreclosure. Copyright HG.org

http://www.hg.org/realest.html

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Five Painting Strategies for a Strong Sell

Just about every home seller knows that a fresh coat of paint is one of the most inexpensive fixes you can do to perk up your home. Making a good first impression is so important partly because a potential buyer won’t spend long looking at your home if it appears that it is dirty or in bad shape.  One of the easiest and most dramatic ways to enhance that first impression is through paint . A few key tips can help you make the most of your painting budget.

1) Repaint your door. Brightly colored doors are often charming and frequently appear on design blogs and Pinterest. However there is a risk here when reselling, some people may not like the color and that could put them off your home. One way to be more secure about your choice is to check out your neighborhood. What colors are others using? You can also check houses for sale in the area online in order to get more ideas. Also, if you are in a development with a homeowners association there may be some rules about what you can and can’t do in terms of color.  If you are repainting your door make sure to use an outdoor paint that can weather the elements.

2) Touch up the trim. Peeling or faded exterior trim on your home will send a measure that the home isn’t well maintained. Newly painted trim can also make it appear as if the entire exterior has been freshened up. Make sure to do to wash and patch first so that the overall finish is smooth and clean.

3) Prep work makes great work. A sloppy paint job can be worse than no paint job at all. All walls should be patched, smoothed and taped before painting begins and drop cloths should be spread over all exposed surfaces. Even if the trim is a similar color to the rest of the wall, use trim paint for the trim and paint it separately. Make sure to wait between coats and touch up any missed or thin spots.

4) Go neutral. As with doors, vivid colors delight design bloggers but don’t necessarily resonate with potential homeowners. Buyers want to imagine your home as a blank canvas for their own vision. Ivory, white, and pale beige not only won’t clash with your buyer’s furniture but they will also help amplify the experience of light and space in the home.

5) Green it up. One way to help your home go green and appeal to sellers is to use a low or non VOC paint indoors.  VOC stands for volatile organic compounds. These compounds contribute to ozone and smog formation and are linked to respiratory illnesses. That new paint smell often gives people headaches. If you use an eco-friendly paint be sure to mention it in your listing description. Buyers, especially those who are chemically sensitive or have young children, will often look favorably upon this feature.

Source by: Deidre Woollard

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Top 8 House-Hunting Mistakes

Buying a home is a very emotional process, but if you allow those emotions to get the best of you, you may fall prey to a number of common home buyer mistakes. Since buying a home has many far-reaching implications – ranging from where you will live to how hard it will be to make ends meet – it’s important to keep your emotions in check and make the most rational decision possible.
There are eight common emotional mistakes that people make when buying a home. Avoiding these pitfalls will help you find the best home-sweet-home.

Mistake 1: Falling in Love With a House You Can’t Afford
Once you’ve fallen in love with a particular home, it’s hard to go back. You start dreaming about how great your life would be if you had all the wonderful things it offered – the lovely, tree-lined streets, the jetted bathtub, the spacious kitchen with professional-grade appliances. However, if you can’t or won’t be able to afford that house, you’re just hurting yourself by imagining yourself in it. To avoid the temptation to get in over your head financially, or the disappointment of feeling like you’re settling for less than you deserve, it’s best to only look at homes in your price range.

Start your search at the low end of your price range – if what you find there satisfies you, there’s no need to go higher. Remember, when you buy another $10,000 worth of house, you’re not just paying an extra $10,000 – you’re paying an extra $10,000 plus interest, which might come out to double that amount or more over the life of your loan. You may be better off putting that money toward another purpose. (For further reading, check outBuying a House in a Down Market.)

Mistake 2: Assuming There’s Nothing Better Out There
Unless you are a high-end buyer looking at custom homes, chances are that for any home you find that you like, there are quite a few others that are nearly identical to it. Most neighborhoods have multiple homes that are the same model. Further, most neighborhoods are full of homes that were all constructed by the same builder, so even if you can’t find an identical model for sale, you can probably find a house with many of the same features. If you’re considering a condo or townhouse, the odds are also in your favor.

Even when you have a long list of must-haves, there are probably several homes out there that can meet your needs. If there are snags with the home you’ve decided you like – such as major repair issues, an inflexible asking price or a difficult possession date – consider moving on. Being open to keep looking will save you from making rash decisions you might regret later.

Mistake 3: Being Desperate
When you’ve been looking for a while and you’re not seeing anything you like – or worse, you’re getting outbid on the houses you do want – it’s easy to get desperate to get into your new house now. However, if you move into a house you’ll end up hating, thetransaction costs to get rid of it will be costly. You’ll have to pay an agent’s commission(up to 5-6% of the sale price) and you’ll have to pay closing costs for the mortgage on your new house. You’ll also deal with the hassle and expense of moving yet again. If you decide not to move but to try to make the best of what you have, remember that alterations and renovations are expensive, time-consuming and stressful. If you have time on your side, it’s OK to wait until something that suits you comes along – as long as your demands are realistic for your budget, you are bound to find something you live with.(To learn more, check out McMansion: A Closer Look at the Big House Trend.)

Mistake 4: Overlooking Important Flaws
For any of the three reasons we just discussed, you might be tempted to ignore major problems with the house that will be difficult, expensive or impossible to change. Carefully consider your options before you make a commitment, and consider waiting until something better comes along. New houses come on the market every day.

Mistake 5: Overestimating Your Handyman Skills
Don’t buy a fixer-upper that’s more than you can handle in terms of time, money or ability. For example, if you think you can do the work yourself then realize you can’t once you get started, any repairs or upgrades you were planning to make will probably cost twice as much once you factor in the labor – and that may not be in your budget. Not to mention the costs involved to fix anything you may have started and the fees to replace the materials you wasted. Honestly evaluate your abilities, your budget and how soon you need to move before purchasing a property that isn’t move-in ready. (For related reading, check out Your Car: Fixer-Upper or Scrap Metal?)

Mistake 6: Rushing to Put In an Offer
In a hot market, it may be necessary to pull the trigger very quickly if you find a home you like. However, you have to balance the need to make a quick decision with the need to make sure the home will be right for you. Don’t neglect important steps like making sure the neighborhood feels safe at night as well as during the day and investigating possible noise issues like a nearby train. Ideally, you’ll be able to take at least a night to sleep on the decision. How well you sleep that night and how you feel about the home in the morning will tell you a lot about whether the decision you’re about to make is the right one. Taking the time to consider the decision also gives you a chance to research how much the property is really worth and offer an appropriate price.

Mistake 7: Dragging Your Feet
It’s a tough balancing act to make sure you make a careful decision, but don’t take too long to make it. Losing out on a property that you were almost ready to make an offer on because someone beat you to it can be heartbreaking. It can also have economic consequences. Let’s say you are self-employed. Perhaps for you more than anyone else, time is money. The more time and energy you have to take out of your normal activities to search for a house, the less time and energy you have available to work. Not dragging out the homebuying process unnecessarily may be the best thing for your business, and the continued success of your business will be essential to paying the mortgage. If you don’t pull the trigger quickly, someone else might, and you’ll have to keep looking. Don’t underestimate how time-consuming and routine-disrupting house shopping can be. (A small business can increase your disposable income. To learn how to set one up, see How To Make A Million In Your Small Business and Starting A Small Business In Tough Economic Times.)

Mistake 8: Offering Too Much
If there’s a lot of competition in your market and you find a place you really like, it’s all too easy to get sucked into a bidding war – or to try to preempt a bidding war by offering a high price in the first place. There are a couple of potential problems with this. First, if the house doesn’t appraise at or above the amount of your offer, the bank won’t give you the loan unless the seller reduces the price or you pay cash for the difference. If this happens, the shortfall on your bid as opposed to your mortgage will have to be paid out of pocket. Second, when you go to sell the house, if market conditions are similar to or worse than they were when you purchased, you may find yourself upside down on the mortgage and unable to sell. Make sure the purchase price for the home you buy is reasonable for both the house and the location by examining comparable sales and getting your agent’s opinion before making an offer. (For further reading, check out Do You Need a Real Estate Agent?)

Conclusion
It’s natural for emotion to come into play in the home-buying process. Buying a house is a big decision, but this is exactly why you need to ensure you are making rational choices, rather than getting wrapped up in the notion of a dream home. Slow down, overcome your emotions and, ultimately, make a home-purchase decision that’s good for both your feelings and your finances.

Source from Amy Fontinelle

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