For first-time buyers, home shopping can be an exciting, but nerve-wracking experience. If you're like others who are looking for their first home, you may already have an idea of what your ideal home should look like.

What happens when you think you’ve found the right home but walk inside and see bad decorating? Dingy walls and dirt backyards aren’t necessarily a bad thing. But if you can’t see past the 70s wallpaper, the Brady Bunch light fixtures, and the avocado green carpeting, you may miss out on a home with great potential.

So what to do? First, make a wish list of things you definitely want, and keep that with you as you go househunting. When you know the 3 most important things to you, then you can easily see beyong things like this:

• Walls. These are one of the easiest things to remedy. If the walls aren’t perfect, picture them crisp and clean in the color of your choice—that's how they could look after you paint them.
• Floors. If they are old or outdated, ask for a carpet allowance in your bid.
• Landscaping. A good bet is a moderately landscaped yard. You can always make improvements to landscaping. Even dead and neglected yards can be brought back to life with just a little effort.
• Closets and garages. You can never have too much storage space, so look for those hidden gems like areas under the stairs, extra space in the laundry room, or extra-wide garages.
• Kitchen. Decidently the most popular room in the house, people often want their kitchen to be large with the newest appliances. Don't let old color schemes distract you, because a fresh coat of paint can do wonders. If  the rest of the house and the overall floorplan are perfect, you can give the kitchen some minor upgrades as time and budget permit, or even a major overhaul so that you get exactly the kitchen you want.
• The exterior. If the home you're looking at leaves a little to be desired from the outside, see what the neighbors have done to get some fresh ideas for this house.

If the home has a good structure and an ideal floor plan, and the house has everything you want except one or two things, it may still be worth making an offer. Stay in the home a few minutes longer and get a feel for its personality before rejecting it.

What about the ugly houses you see online? Sometimes those are the best ones to visit because other buyers are rejecting them too quickly. This may give you some options for repair allowances and other price adjustments and concessions. The home down the street with all the emotional appeal because of the decorating choices may be priced $40,000 higher than the ugly house – and perhaps you can implement the same upgrades for a quarter of the budget.

Most importantly, if you’re a first time buyer this may not be the time to find the “perfect” home because you probably aren’t in the “perfect” budget range.  Seeing past the current decorating choices givs you an opportunity for vision!

When you're ready to start househunting, visit www.OpenHouseCafe.info