There are three major mistakes that you must avoid when buying a new home.
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If you plan on buying a home soon, there are three major mistakes that you must avoid.
The first is refusing to confide in a trusted advisor. Experienced real estate professionals handle a large number of transactions with different types of people and different personalities. There is very little they haven’t heard before, and your advisor represents your best interests and has a fiduciary legal obligation to get you the best price, terms, and conditions available for your home, depending on the agency that you pick. In our office, we don’t practice dual agency—we only represent one party per designated agent.
A trusted advisor can help you make smart decisions by giving you a lot of options and providing you all the information you need regarding the outcomes of each possible decision. This way, you can think through what will happen in the negotiation process, the closing and possession process, the inspections, etc. When your agent has a pulse on what the market’s doing, they can present you with different scenarios so you can explore whichever one will help you achieve your real estate goals.
The second major mistake is altering your financial situation prior to closing. You don’t want to buy anything on credit once you’ve completed a loan application. For example, a major purchase like a new car can change your debt-to-income ratio and push you out of being able to qualify for a home. Large appliances (washers, dryers, refrigerators), outdoor and gardening equipment, electronics or computers, or furniture for your new home are also purchases you should avoid.
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A trusted advisor can help you make smart decisions.
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The third and final major mistake is buying the wrong house. The very first thing all homebuyers should do is make a list of priorities to define their home purchase objectives. Figure out what features and benefits will be most important to you in this process and what you can and can’t live without. Before you close escrow, review that list. It’s easy to overlook a major factor that can come back to haunt you later on.
It’s also easy to fall in love with a house and feel a sense of urgency to buy it as soon as possible. A house is a big purchase, though, and the cost of acquiring and liquidating real estate is so high that you must be absolutely certain that this is the house you want to live in for an extended period of time. I always tell first-time homebuyers that they should plan on living in their house for a minimum of five years to get the real benefits of homeownership and equity. We’re in a market that’s producing 3% to 5% equity growth per year, so if you can meet that five-year standard, you should come out pretty well.
If you have any questions about this topic or have a topic in mind you’d like to see us cover in a future video, just shoot me a text or send me an email and I’d be glad to help. I look forward to hearing from you!
