The first of the year rolls around and many Americans start thinking about their tax refund and how they are going to spend it. Put it towards a family vacation? Use it for a down payment on a new car? Pay off holiday bills? Maybe its time to start thinking about ways to really put that refund to good use.

Anyone going through the home buying (or selling) process knows that it is nearly impossible to handle everything that is thrown at you. Knowing how to sort through the numerous listings that pop up daily, weed through the properties that align with what you are looking for, negotiate pricing and attend inspections… this is just a sampling of the list of things a Realtor does on your behalf.

Whether you are moving to a new town to experience something different or transferring for a job, the experience can be exciting, expensive and lonely all at the same time. 

With the growing popularity of Zillow.com, Trulia.com and Realtor.com, I felt that it was important to discuss something you should look out for when you are visiting these sites. According to most real estate statistics, the majority of people are going online if they are in the market to purchase a new home, so there is a strong possibility that you will land on one of those sites.  Let’s take Zillow as an example. On Zillow’s homepage, there is an opportunity to search for a property by town, here’s an example of this search feature from Zillow’s site.

You have decided to take the plunge and buy a new home…congratulations!   What most people focus on when looking for a new home is if the cost of the home itself, the listing price, fits their budget.  They start doing google searches and watching the realty sites to narrow the search down to homes within a certain price range.  While this is certainly a logical place to start, the price alone should not be the be-all and end-all factor when considering your new home.   Many other factors need to be considered in order to see the full picture of your potential new home.  Here we will take a look at additional expenses that need to be considered as well as location, land, size and age.