Here are the four most common buyer mistakes you should avoid making.
Click here to use our free home evaluation tool.
Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all houses on the local MLS.
With the onset of spring typically comes new goals. One goal that many people have this spring is to buy a new home. If you haven’t purchased a home before or haven’t in a while, be sure to avoid the following mistakes as you navigate the market:
- Falling in love with the house instead of the block. In real estate, it’s important to fall in love with the location as well as the house. Location is the biggest driving factor for increasing the equity in your home. You can do renovation projects to a home, but if the property isn’t in a good location, doing so could still hurt your equity.
- Not knowing the mistakes on your credit report. Nearly everybody’s credit reports have some errors or mistakes on them, so before you begin the home-buying process, check your credit to ensure it’s clean and clear.
It’s important to fall in love with the location as well as the house.
- Forgetting about closing costs. Most buyers know they need to bring money for their down payments when they go to closing, but they often forget about the other closing costs. Your closing costs could be anywhere from 3% to 4% of the purchase price, so plan for that expense. You might be in an area where sellers are willing to pay the buyer’s closing costs, but in this red-hot market, that’s increasingly rare.
- Underestimating the power of being a conventional loan buyer. It’s important to be pre-approved before you go home shopping, and if you can get pre-approved for a conventional loan as opposed to an FHA or another loan type, it’ll put you in a stronger position for the seller to consider your offer.
If you or someone you know is thinking about buying a home, give us a call. We love working with buyers and would be happy to assist you.