It's an unfortunate truth of the home buying process: few people find a home that meets 100 percent of their needs and wants perfectly. Usually, you end up settling for a home with a couple of short-comings, but minor ones that you can live with or change easily. The struggle often comes when you need to determine which short-comings you should overlook and which you should not. If you're on a budget and looking at less-expensive homes, here are a few downfalls that you are pretty safe looking past in a single-family home that is otherwise a good choice for you.

Bad paint colors

Far too many home buyers walk away from a home because they are turned off by the color. Here's the thing: paint is cheap. Painting is easy, and you can do it yourself. If a home otherwise has all of the features you are looking for, walking away because someone painted the bedroom hot pink is silly. You can paint before you even move in and never have to deal with the ugly colors again.

Dirty carpet

Dirty carpet can be a bit of a pain. It can make the home smell, cause allergies, and make the home look dingy overall. But it's rarely a reason not to buy a home. Often, there is flooring under the carpeting that can suit your needs for the time being after you pull the carpet up. And then at some point down the road, when you have more money in the budget, you can have a new carpet put down or replace the existing floor with something that is more to your liking.

Older appliances

An outdated fridge or a stove from 1980 should not turn you off if these appliances come with the home. Even an older furnace is really no reason to be scared. If the appliances still work, at least you have something to get you by. You can set aside money so that in a couple of months, you have the funds on hand to replace the appliances if needed. If you were to pass up a home you liked with old appliances, the next home you like may not have appliances included at all, which is even more expensive to overcome.

When shopping for a home, keep in mind that you are probably going to have to compromise somewhere. If that compromise involves overlooking old carpet, weird paint colors, or old appliances, you're in great shape overall.

For more information about single-family home listings in your area, contact a real estate agent today.