When buying a new home real estate experts say you shouldn’t let minor aesthetic differences sway you from making an offer.  If appliances or the decorative theme are not up to your expectations, keep in mind that most of these things can be easily modified over time. What is important when viewing the interior of the home is to check for overall structural soundness and try to focus on potential rather than current appearance. A good strategy is to hire a licensed home inspector before you close the deal. The inspector will provide a detailed analysis and cost breakdown on actual required repairs.

Buyers should not get discouraged when their potential dream home requires some old-fashioned manual labor to get it up to their standards. Realtors refer to this as “sweat equity.” Sweat equity is a time investment by the potential buyer to clean, redo and repair the potential property once the purchase is complete. Right now we are in a poor real-estate market which is littered with short sales and foreclosures – many of which are neglected, vacant properties. Also, many purchases are older properties with excellent construction characteristics but needing some “elbow grease.”

So don’t let aesthetics stop you from making an offer on what could be your dream home. However, don’t feel pressured to sign on the dotted line if the inspection shows larger problems. For example,  if the inspection shows that the roof needs to be replaced. If this is the case, ask the homeowner  to put a new roof on or give you a substantial credit towards a new roof. In this market, sellers want to make their deals work because they don’t know when another offer is going to come through. A metal roof is another option that many homeowners are turning to. It lasts three times as long as a traditional roof and is extremely durable during extreme weather conditions. Erie Constructionof Evansville, Indiana is a leader in the industry and can show you some of the reasons metal makes sense for your home and your pocketbook.