Three Costly Home Buyer Blunders(If you are reading this article, chances are you have read others like it and the title caught your attention enough to wonder if these are the same home buyer mistakes you already know about.)
While they may or may not be redundant to you, they are important enough so that reading them once again will only further protect you in the home buying process, especially if you are a first-timer.
Elizabeth Weintraub’s article, “Three Major Home Buying Mistakes - How to Avoid Home Buying Mistakes,” posted on homebuying.about.com, provides essential blunders to avoid that could devastate your home buying process and overall experience.
One little mistake or mess up while buying a home can prove to set back the process and cause irrevocable damage.
The first blunder to avoid is “refusing to confide in a trusted advisor.”
Regardless of whether your real estate confidant is an agent or lawyer, the most common reasons a buyer will not disclose all personal information truthfully are because they fear how they will be perceived, truly believe they have all the answers and don’t need help from an agent, do not think it is highly important and lack trust and confidence in the advisor.
Real estate professionals have a lot more knowledge than you will ever have and are in business to help you. They can not help you to the best of their abilities if you do not provide them the necessary information.
You need to trust your real estate professional.
The second blunder results from “altering financial pictures prior to closing.”
“When I bought my first home, I easily qualified because I had no car payment or revolving debt. A week before closing, I bought a new car and financed the purchase. New ratios meant I no longer qualified.” Weintraub received last minute financial help from her mother but that is not feasible for most people.
There is a list of things you should not purchase via credit after your loan application has been accepted prior to closing.
“Do NOT buy: Automobiles; Washers, dryers, refrigerators; Lawnmowers or garden equipment; Expensive electronics or computers; Furniture for your new home.”
And the last blunder to avoid, although it sounds very obvious, is “buying the wrong house.”
“The very first thing home buyers should do is make a list of priorities and define home purchase objectives. Figure out what features and benefits are most important and which you can live without. Before you close escrow, review this list. It's easy to overlook a major factor that could come back to haunt you later.”
Many times a home buyer will get caught up in the excitement of a particular house that was not originally within his or her budget or specifications. He or she may buy a house that is $100,000 more than can be afforded or purchase a breathtaking property in an isolated, undesirable area.
The result is that the house has to be sold, which result in either losing money or sometimes, foreclosure.
Buying a house takes time and everything involved with it should be carefully planned and thought out. Avoiding these costly blunders can go a long way towards ensuring a confident and successful home buying experience.
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